Returning
by savingthestars
Summary: AU. What happens when someone Leo thought had died returns after eight years.   There's one minor swear word in there, you might not even notice it.
1. It's so hard to say hello again

_First silent witness fic on this site! :) I love silent witness and I'm always playing with what if's.  
I remember watching silent witness as a child, but I don't remember much of Leo's wife and daughters death, I was much too young to be watching at that age anyway, not that it ever stopped me. There may be some details that aren't exact in here relating to the accident, but this is AU anyway, google failed me when I tried to search for more information. There really is a first time for everything! _

_I hope you enjoy this, if you do, please review. I'm hoping to make a series of one shots at some point based in this universe. _

_Lots of love x_

**Returning**

After years and years of helpless wondering she's standing outside his office. The blinds are closed and you can hear the rhythmic tapping of fingers on a keyboard. He doesn't know she's coming. Doesn't even know that she is still alive. Why would he even contemplate that she was? As far as he knew she had been killed, sat in that little café with her mother.

_She didn't know how it had happened. One minute her and her beautiful mother were sat there sharing small talk. Her mother was drinking a coffee. Milk. No sugar. She'd had a frothy hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel. Suddenly they had heard a shriek as something tried to break quickly, but the car was travelling to fast. They'd got a window seat. The car was hurtling towards them like an oversized bullet. _

_Her mother had screamed._

"_Cassie! Run!" Terror danced in her eyes as she'd gazed as her daughter, only ten years old. She was too young to die. _

_Her mother long golden hair had whipped around as her mother turned to face her pushing her backwards. Her soft brown eyes told Cassie all she needed to hear, and so she ran._

_She ran to the back of the little shop and rushed behind the long black marble counter. The white door swung open as she ran though it and into the kitchen. She made her way out of the back door and into the little courtyard with its grey flagstones at the back of the café. There she waited. _

_The sirens were almost on top of her by the time her mother emerged. The thought of police swarming around was enough to send shivers down her spine. She hated the police, even though her father had always said she could trust a police officer. They looked like a predator ready to strike. Ready to kill the prey._

_At this thought she turned and ran. Climbing over the pile of bricks and wooden planks at the end of the courtyard she slides through the empty space where a gate once stood. She can hear her mother's footsteps behind her, and when the need to stop and catch her breath becomes absolutely necessary she stops. _

_From this point the smoke emerging from the building is clearer and as she stares at it she imagines the flames dancing inside. _

Her mother reaches out to hug the shocked girl and terrified she climbs into the safety of her mother's arms. A policeman had approached them then but she hadn't paid any attention. He had taken them to a house. A safe house. Her mother told her that the police were worried about the man driving the car. He had driven into the café window on purpose. She couldn't understand that. Who would want to do such a thing?

_She never found out. It was years until her mother brought up the accident again. She was 13 years old. They were moving. They didn't have to live in the safe house anymore. _

_Immediately her thoughts had turned to her father, but her mother said they weren't going to look for him. Why not? She didn't ask. She never questioned her mother's motive. They left the little terraced house they'd lived in and moved into a bigger semi detached property in a quiet suburban area of London. She went to school, made friends, worked hard, she did everything a normal teenage girl should do. However she never stopped thinking of her father. Where was he? Did he think of her too? _

_Her mother had moved on. A man named Steven, fairly good looking. Dark hair, dark eyes, muscular with a strong jaw. She had nothing to hold against him, and yet she didn't like him. He was trying to replace her father. _

_He would never be able to do that._

Now she was standing outside the door of her father's office. Too scared to knock. Why would he even want to see her? He had clearly moved on, got another job, new friends: a whole new life.

Beeping machines surrounded her. The room had a warm feel to it, which surprised her seeing as her father was a forensic pathologist, and he worked in a mortuary. She took a deep shaky breath. Why was she even doing this?

She was about to turn and walk straight back out the door she had come through but before she could a man walked in. He was tall, dark haired, with prominent facial features. He smiled at her.

"Leo won't bite you if you knock on his door you know" He laughs.

She smiles weakly as he gives her a puzzled look. "You look familiar. Have we met before?"

She just shakes your head.

He gives her another grin before walking towards her, having picked a black folder up off his desk.

"Well, I've got work to do" He smiles again before leaning behind her and knocking on the door. Her heart starts to beat rapidly. A look of pure fear runs across her face before she wipes it away, replacing it with a forced smile.

A deep but gentle voice comes from inside the office. "Come in."

The young man opens the door and pokes his head around it. You hear him inform the man inside that "there is a lovely young lady stood out here for you". The man inside chuckles before asking the younger man to send her in.

As he steps out of the room the young dark haired man grins at her.

"See you around beautiful" He gives her another dashing smile.

She takes a deep breath and forces another smile in his direction before glancing at the door. The man gestures for her to go inside.

She takes a step forward, and then she's done it, she's through the door and staring at the man behind the desk, her father. He looks up, and smiles at her, but then suddenly the smile falters and a shocked expression appears upon his face.

"Cassie" he stutters disbelieving.

"Hi dad" She whispers.

She stands there awkwardly in silent for a few moments, and from outside she can hear a voice sounding both shocked and embarrassed.

"Oh shit." A small smile graces her face as she realises it's the young man.

Her father smiles at her from across the desk and gestures for her to sit down before raising his voice so the dark haired man next door can hear him.

"Language please, Harry."

He looks at her again. She can see the warmth in his eyes and for the first time in a long time she feels loved. This man has missed her.

He leans across the desk and takes her hand before whispering.

"Oh Cassie. How?"

She takes a deep breath and prepares herself to tell the story. The story of how she survived, and of how much she has missed him.


	2. Speaking the truth would hurt too much

_I couldn't help it, I had to write more! This chapters fairy boring actually but it'll get grittier and more interesting in the next chapter as Cassie reveals more about her mother._

By the way, I should have put this on the last chapter as well but never mind, I own none of these characters, they belong to the BBC. All that is mine is the plot, and to be honest, my wandering mind has more claim to that. 

_Enjoy.  
Much love x_

_Listen to my voice, it wants to tell you everything.  
There's so much to say, I don't know where to start.  
__**Listen to my heart – Nancy Lammot**_

_**

* * *

**_

You've been talking for over an hour now and you've only just managed to cover the accident and where you've been. He's had a brief over view of the last eight years but he wants to know more. He wants details.

You're not sure you want to tell him about everything yet. There are wounds you're scared of ripping open. So much has happened and words can't quite describe how you feel. He's looking at you now expecting you to say something, but you can't quite remember what he asked you. Your confusion obviously shows on your face because he chuckles lightly and repeats the question.

"How are you doing at school?"

You sigh relieved that he hasn't asked about your mother yet.

"I'm at Townley Grammar School at the moment, and I'm doing alright I guess" You say, smiling at him. You're doing better than alright and you know it, but you don't want him to think you're conceited.

He grins at you. You can see his desperate for information. "What's your favourite lesson?"

You roll your eyes at the question, anyone could have guessed it was coming, but you answer all the same. "I love my music and drama lessons, but I like biology and English too."

He smiles at you again before asking "Any idea what you want to do when you leave, you'll be at college next year won't you?"

"Yeah" You sigh. "I can't wait to leave school actually. It's gotten so repetitive!"

He laughs.

"I'm studying music, biology, chemistry, forensic science and dance at college next year though…"

He seems to be thinking it through. "Wow" He smiles. "There's a bit of a contrast there, isn't there?

You smile at him and laugh. It's so easy to laugh with him. It surprises you; you thought this was going to be really awkward. Mind you, your mother always said you were a daddy's girl when you were little.

"I know but I'm taking the sciences for a future career and the other two just because I could. I enjoy music and dance, thought I might as well study something I like as well."

He chuckles. "Good idea there."

Suddenly a shrill screaming fills the air and you trace the noise back to the little black mobile phone on your father's desk. He grimaces at it.

"Sorry" He says to you. You just shrug your shoulders.

He answers it with a brisk "Professor Dalton speaking".

He keeps repeating the same two phrases over and over again all way through the conversation. "Okay. That's fine."

He hangs up and looks at you. "I've got to go now, there's a new case and they need me."

You smile at him and tell him it's fine. You turn to leave but before you do he's asked you another question.

"No hug for you dad then?"

You turn back around and sprint into his arms laughing. As you pull back he looks at you.

"Townley Grammar School, is that the one on Bexleyheath?"

You nod.

"You live in Bexley?"

You nod again.

"How about I pick you up after school on Friday? We can have another chat, and we'll go for a coffee or whatever it is you teenage girls like to do with their dads these days."

You smile at him. "I'd like that"

Inside your mind your screaming like an obsessed fan girl. You can't believe he wants to see you again. You thought for sure after all this time he'd have moved on, got a new family to worry about.

He smiles at you before grabbing his coat and ushering you out the door. You walk down the stairs, through the reception area and into the car park together. You say goodbye to him once more and turn away and start to make your way towards the bus stop before he stops you again, with a question you didn't want to have to answer today. The old scars reopen and you make a feeble promise to yourself that won't cry.

"Cassie, what are you going to tell your mother?"

You can tell by his expression that he knows you've got bad news.


	3. Returning to life without you

_Okay, so I experimented with 2nd person last chapter, just to try it because we'd been writing in second person during our English lessons, I didn't like it. I'll probably change that chapter and re-upload it at a later date, but for now here's cahpter three. It's not been checked thoroughly but I wanted to get something up before I head off to school. (Which should be now, I'm going to rather late at this rate! :D) _

_Thank you to Calliope for the reviews - it's nice to know someones reading this so thank you lots and lots! :)_

_Now I'm going to upload this and run to school. :) Enjoy!_

_Much love x_

**Chapter Three**

The bus ride home was long, or it felt long, in reality it was probably no longer than fifteen minutes. Cassie's thoughts had plagued her. What would she tell her mother? The truth?

No.

She couldn't tell her mother where she had been today, nor where she'd be going on Friday evening. She definitely couldn't tell her who she'd be going with. Her mother would kill her.

Cassie could see the scene already, behind her closed eyes, playing like her own personal movie. Her mother's golden hair whipping widely around her face, ivory skin glowing under the bright kitchen lights, and her emerald eyes blazing. Her mother would scream at her. Cassie would cry, making her mother shout even more, louder than before, spurred on by Cassie's sign of weakness.

Her mother wasn't cruel to do such a thing. She wasn't a horrible person, in fact she couldn't have wished for a better mother. It was just; she hadn't coped with out Cassie's father. Her husband. Her world.

When they'd been told it was safe for them to come out of police protection, her mother hadn't searched for him. She hadn't let Cassie look either. She said they should just re-adjust to normal life, they could search later, once they had settled down. They never had.

A screeching siren brought Cassie out of her thoughts and back into reality. What was she thinking? She couldn't tell her mother anything! If she was lucky her mother would be going out Friday night. God knows she needed to. She needed time to escape from the constraints of work, looking after Cassie, and the general hassle of day-to-day life. Her mother needed time to have fun.

As the bus rolled over a speed bump Cassie glanced out of the window, instantly recognising her street. Peering through the blanket of dust, which coated the window, she could just make out her bus stop. She pulled herself to her feet whilst pushing the little red button to ring the bell. A small grey haired old lady smiled at her as Cassie paused to allow the little woman to get to her feet and make her way to the front of the bus ahead of her.

The bus lurched as it came to a halt and Cassie was glad that she'd held on tight. If she closed her eyes she could see images of the force from the bus propelling her forward and straight through the windscreen.

She thanked the driver and got off. She paused to let the bus pull away whilst staring at the large house across the road in front of her. The house was huge by everyday standards. The bricks were clean, beige and light brown in colour; the house had a gleaming white border and on the right there were two massive bay windows, one upstairs the other downstairs. There were three other windows on the house, two on the left behind which Cassie knew was the upstairs study and the front reception room, and the third was in the centre just above the door. Behind that window was the library. Cassie has always loved the library and after they had moved into the house she had frequently hidden in there. Simply to escape from everyday life, to go to a world where she could be a princess and she would get a fairytale happy ending. Something Cassie knew was purely fiction and would never happen to her. Not ever.

As Cassie crossed the now quiet road she admired her mothers flower beds. Her mother always told her how keeping the front garden looking immaculate was not just a hobby but also a necessity. She was constantly reminding her how 'people will judge us as they walk up to our door simply based on the content of our front garden'. Cassie found this rather funny, as none of her friends had ever commented on the well kept and colourful garden, she supposed one of their mothers might have, but then again mothers always noticed those sorts of things.

The yellow-cream flagstones were stain free and sanded out the length of the drive way and the path up to the front door. On either side of the flagstones lay green turf, each blade of luscious green grass identical in length. The grass was bordered by beautiful flowers beds each bursting with an array of different colours.

None of them though pleased Cassie as much as the scarlet red front door. Cassie had begged her mother for a bright blood red front door. It had always been her dream since early childhood to own a house with a bright red door. Whenever Cassie returned it always made her smile to see the front door standing bolding in front of her. It was a sign she was home.

Pulling a small silver key front her pocket she unlocked the door, calling out to her mother to let her know she was home.

Placing her bag down by the stairs she pulled off her boots and placed them, along with her thin jacket into the cupboard beneath the stairs. It was the middle of summer and the house was warm so Cassie pulled off her long black cardigan and hung it on the end of the banister at the bottom of the stairs.

It was at this moment that her mother appeared in the hallway, a scowl was painted across her face and her eyes flickered dangerously.

"Where have you been? I was a worried sick!" She screeched.

Cassie rolled her eyes before turning around to face her mother.

She sighed. "I told you I was going into town. I wanted to have a look around."

"Oh did you now." Her mother snapped.

Cassie casually wrapped a stand of blonde hair around her finger but letting it go and flicking it behind her shoulder.

"Yes actually, I did. This morning as I left for school." She replied bluntly.

Her mother's gaze softened as she silently admitted defeat.

"Find anything nice?" She asked, her voice now melodic and full of interest.

"Not really, I was looking at prom dresses but there's nothing that eye catching in the shops…" Cassie lied.

"Well have a look online tonight then and see if you can find the one you pointed out to me last month. If the price is the same, I'll get it you" Her mother smiled at her.

Cassie couldn't help but smile back. She'd shown her mum a dress last month, knowing she was highly unlikely to get it, but she'd shown her mum all the same. It was a beautiful dress and she'd instantly fallen in love with it. It was definitely the dream dress she wanted to wear to her prom.

Leaping up the stairs Cassie locked herself in her room silently thanking a higher power for helping her escape from that tricky situation unscathed. She pulled a pink laptop from off her desk and laid it down on her bed before lifting the lid and turning it on. She was sat crossed legged on top of her cream bed sheets as she logged in and prepared to finish her last essay for English.

She looked at the bedside table and at the photograph that she'd placed upon the very minute they'd moved in. It was a photograph of her aged roughly about seven in a simple white dress; she was in the arms of her father, who was dressed in jeans and a casual t-shirt with, her fathers other arm was wrapped around her mother's waist. Her mother was wearing a beautiful summer dress. It was cream with a red flowers along the hem, she had a pastel pink cardigan thrown across her shoulders. All three of them were beaming at the camera. Life was perfect then.

It was at that moment, staring at the camera that she wondered whether her mother would really deny her to chance to get to know her father now that she had found him. She stood up and walked over to the door, she could always ask her mother hypothetically. Her mother didn't have to know that the situation of which Cassie was asking about was true.

She was stood at the top of the stairs when the front door opened and Steven appeared big and burly as ever with a frown etched across his face. Clearly he wasn't pleased. He took two strides and placed his briefcase down before glancing up the stairs at her, his frown deepened and Cassie swore she thought she heard his grown menacingly towards her.

She was not looking forward to dinner that night.


	4. I'm not your daughter

_Two chapters in one day! Sorry about the numerous spelling mistakes in the last chapter, I really did just write it late tuesday night and then upload it this morning..._  
_If you read this please review, it really does help me when I'm writing if I know that someone's reading my work :D This chapter actually starts to get a bit more interesting and a little bit gritty. _

_I will also recommend another fic to you today, The Lighthouse: Sunset in South Africa by pinkswallowsun - It's well worth a read I promise you!_

_DISCLAIMER: I own the plot and Steven, I want to thank a close friend of mine for discussing her feelings whilst being a position like Cassie is in this chapter (even though it only touches on the subject in this chapter her input with invaluable!) All recognisable characters are the property of the BBC._

_So here's the next chapter! Enjoy!_

_Much Love x _

**Chapter Four**

Cassie watched the shadows dance sadistically on the cream painted walls at the bottom of the stairs. A perpetual darkness swamped the room directly opposite the carpeted stairs, the next door was open slightly allowing fragmented light to flow into the hall way on which the voices of her mother and Steven floated. Steven's voice was low, each word was extenuated and forceful and Cassie couldn't help but shiver at the pressure gliding from his words. She knew that each word was piercing her mother like the sharpened silver blade of a knife.

She imagined her mother backed up against the mahogany kitchen cupboards, her back pressed against the black granite work surface, terrified. Steven's eyes would be on fire, his words would burn her mother and she would try to plead with him. She would beg him to change his mind, to calm down and think rationally. She would use her flawless logic to contradict him, to try and make him see reason. He wouldn't. He never gave in. He was relentless. He'd use every inch of his power to change his mothers mind. He wasn't afraid to become physical. Cassie knew that if he had to hurt her mother, he would, after all she'd been the one to mop of the tears, and the blood after one of their 'little disagreements' had become a fully fledged fight.

The petite blonde teen shivered slightly. She didn't want her mother to get hurt again. She could do so much better than Steven. She was sure even her mother realised that, but what could she do, if she left Steven then he'd come after her. He'd hunt them down. They'd always have to live their lives in fear, scared of who was around the corner. Her mother didn't want that sort of life for her, but Cassie didn't want this life for her mother.

Edging slowly towards the door Cassie took a deep breath. She could hear the conversation clearly from here. They were arguing over her. Again. Cassie knew they often argued over her, even though her mother often lied, telling Cassie they were arguing about his work, or her friends. Her mother would always try and come up with an excuse for his behaviour. He's been working too hard. He's tired. He's stressed. It was lies. All of it lies.

A hand slammed down on the work surface in anger. She heard the sharp intake of breath from her mother and again, the low vicious growl from Steven, the same as the one he had directed at her when he'd first come in. He was trying to maintain a calm exterior but his back was ridged and his teeth clenched. He was fooling no one.

Cassie pushed the door open wider, and stepped into the room, keeping her gaze on the man and women in front of her. Her mother glanced at her with imploring eyes and mouthed 'please don't' in Cassie's direction. Cassie smiled at her, she hoped it looked natural, it didn't feel it.

"I was just wondering how long dinner would be" she spoke softly, almost convinced that if she kept a calm front than she would be able to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

Steven turned and put a forced smile on his face.

"Ah Cassie" He took a step towards her, his eyes flashing with an unidentifiable emotion. "We were just discussing you..."

She took a deep breath. She should have realised this was coming. He had avoided her, ignored her presence, ever since the event a few months back. An event that had scarred Cassie permanently and left her so traumatised she had refused to step foot in her own home for weeks. She was too scared that he would be there. Waiting for her. Waiting to repeat his behaviour. Ready to take it one step further, to a point where she wouldn't make it out alive.

Steven gestured towards one of the wooden chairs that surrounded the small kitchen table. She took a seat. He sat opposite her, placing his elbows on the table top and leaning towards her. He was so close that his breath was tickling her cheek, she wanted to back away but fear had set in and she found herself unable to move.

"You're going to college next year aren't you?" he inquires, although he already knows the answer.

You nod.

"That's good. At least you still believe in yourself."

She gulped. What did he want? What had he suggested to her mother that had got her into such a state and had forced him to rapidly change his behaviour? What did he want that would leave him with no other option but to involve her in the 'discussion'? She blinked twice in quick succession as her mother coughed.

"Steven, don't be like that. She's an intelligent girl." She murmurs it unsure whether saying something is the right thing to do.

Steven scrapes his chair back loudly and towers over her.

"You can keep your mouth shut." He bellows, spit splatters across my mother's face. "Don't give the girl false hope, she hasn't got a chance at succeeding!"

Cassie took a deep steady breath and warned herself not to cry. She wasn't willing to show such a weakness in front of Steven. Her mother had every right to make a comment like that in a fit of anger. She had taken care of Cassie since she was a child, she had always put up with Cassie's moods and her problems. She had a right to feel disappointed sometimes. She had a right to lose control over her emotions and take it out on her. Steven however, didn't. He wasn't her father. He wasn't anything to her.

She stood up.

"Cassie" Her mother warned.

Steven glared at her; his eyes flickered as he almost silently dared her to say something.

"You" Cassie stuttered, her voice dripping with hatred and vexation. "You have no right to speak to my mother like that. You have no right to speak about me like that."

He raises an eyebrow. "Is that right young lady?"

She took a deep breath and released it shakily. She couldn't believe she was doing this. She was arguing with him. She'd never get away with this, he'd make her pay for being so cheeky, and she would have no power to stop him.

"Yes, and you know it. You're not my father; you have no right to talk about me like that. You are nothing to me. Nothing. Can you understand that?" By the time she'd finished speaking her hands were balled up in fists by her sides, she was ridged and her jaw was clenched almost painfully. Her mother's jaw had dropped as her eyes were drawn from Cassie to Steven and back again. An awkward silence was creeping through the room, twisting its way around Cassie's neck, suffocating her. She could see the worry in her mother's eyes. Steven wasn't speaking. He wasn't looking at either of them. He had his eyes close and was breathing deeply and loudly. He wouldn't let her get away with what she'd just said. He would punish her for it. The question was, how?

Time had crawled by making the thirty seconds it took till Steven opened his eyes to appear like hours. He took one look at her mother and smiled. Her mother looking pleadingly at him before he turned to face Cassie.

"Theresa." He said bluntly. "Leave the room."

Her mother didn't move a muscle. She stood still, staring at the man in front of her. She glanced at Cassie.

"Steven, leave it. You know she's only young still, she lets her emotions run away with her mouth, she doesn't realise what she's saying!" For all it was worth she might as well have been down on both knees with her hands clasped together. She was practically begging.

"No. It's time she learnt her lesson. Now leave." Steven growled.

Her mother refused. Cassie knew what was going to happen. She heard her mother scream and Steven grabbed hold of her arms and dragged her across the room; she struggled eventually managing to free herself before he lunged at her, getting hold of her hair and heaving her into the door way and flinging her into the dark empty hall way before slamming the door in her pale withdrawn face.

"As for you" He snarled.

She turned to face him, pulling her shoulders back and refusing to look as though he was scaring her. Though truth be told, she was absolutely petrified. If he could treat her mother, a woman who he apparently had at least an ounce of love towards, in such a rough degrading manner, what would he do to her?

* * *

Leo sat on the black leather sofa, one arm around Janet's shoulders pulling her into him, the other laid on the arms of the sofa as he watched the television half heartedly. In truth his mind was on other things. Other things involving his daughter. How had she found him? Why had she been reluctant to give any information about Theresa?

Something was obviously worrying her and he had no idea how he could get her to open up to him. She was supposedly to be his daughter, his little girl, and yet he didn't know the first thing about her. He wasn't about to let her slip through his fingers again. He didn't think he could face loosing his baby girl for a second time. Of course she wasn't a baby anymore, she was practically a woman. She had grown up, both mentally and physically, and Leo had no idea who she was anymore. He would get to know her though, and she would start to trust him, and they would start to have the father-daughter relationship that the both of them had missed out on for the past eight years.

He looked to his right and down at Janet. Her eyes were closed but he knew she wasn't asleep, she was still listening to the mans voice narrating the documentary they had agreed on watching. How would she react to the news that Leo's daughter had been to see him? Would she be worried? Theresa was technically still Leo's wife, he hadn't seen the point in filing a divorce if she was dead. She wasn't dead though. She just hadn't wanted to find him. In which case that mean't that Janet had nothing to worry about, Theresa didn't pose a threat to their relationship, Theresa had moved on with her life. Cassie however was a different story. He knew how Janet longed for a child, but he had been unable to move on from his little girl, the one he thought he'd lost. He hadn't wanted another child with Janet. Would Janet be able to accept that Cassie was he daughter? Would she at least attempt to get on with her? He knew Janet was a loving woman, but if she felt threatened by his daughter, what would he do? He couldn't choose between them.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a sudden movement from Janet. She was looking up at him, directly into his eyes. Leo felt like she could read his thoughts, it was almost as though she was looking into his soul. She smiled slightly at him and the her brow furrowed.

"What are you thinking about?" Her voice was gentle.

"I..." Leo started, but the phone rang.

"Professor Dalton speaking" He answered efficiently, "Of course, yes, I'll be there in ten minutes."

He sighed, so much for his quite night in with Janet. He looked down at her and smiled apologetically. She nodded, knowing instantly that he had to leave.

"I'm sorry" He said leaning down to give her a peck on the cheek. "There's been a domestic on Swanbridge Road up on Bexleyheath, I'm needed..."


	5. You've been snatched away again my child

_Sorry there was no update yesterday! I had an unfortunate accident involving hairspray, a walk home from school, chips and a rubber duck. It just stupidly painful and on top of that I had parents evening. Although that turned out to be nothing to worry about :)  
I'm currently incredibly tired but seeing as I can't go to sleep just yet (I've banged my head on my bedside cabinate so my mum's insisting I stay awake so she can keep an eye on me) I thought I'd update!_

A special thank you to tigpop and Calliope for your reviews, they mean a lot to me and it makes me really really happy to read them, and in answer to Calliope's question - the shadows move in an evil way. 

_Please review after you've read this, if you like something I can include more, if you dislike something let me know otherwise I can't change it! Any suggestions for where this can go? I'm always intrested... your ideas may be better than mine. (Actually I'm making the whole story up as I go along, unless you count my dreams... because this story has become a reoccuring dream since I started writing it)._

_Well that's enough about me and my writing, there's just time for a quick disclaimers before I let you read this chapter._

_Disclaimer: Due to the powers that be the bbc has ownership of all recognisable characters, if I did the programme would be very much Harry/Nikki and would consist of more Leo time! _

_Enjoy_

_Much love x_

Chapter Five

Leo turned right onto Swanbridge Road immediately noticing the small crowd which had formed to the side of one of the properties and close by to several police cars, which littered the road, two ambulances were scattered in the middle of the sea of organised chaos, the headlights of the vehicles swamped the road in artificial day light.

He sighed; at least he wasn't going to have to crawl along the road staring at house numbers in some perverse manner until he found number 57. He had attended some scenes at houses, where from the outside it was like any other normal day, society had cleaned up whatever evidence had been showing on the outside. The thought of society doing it's bit to clean up an accident made Leo want to laugh, even though the reason for the laughter itself distinctly lacked humour. Society often held some form of responsibility for many of lives that had been lost and had ended up on the cold metal slabs in the mortuary. Leo had faced so many deaths that could have been prevented if society had done its bit, if society had failed someone. It was the deaths of children that were hardest to deal with, such innocence, a whole life wasted, and in many cases something could have been done to stop the unnecessary death. To Leo the truth was simple; society didn't accept responsibility unless it made life easier for it. People would clear up an accident, because then they can pretend it didn't happen. A memory of a face, a human being, a life, would linger lost in the memory of a few people. Most would forget. Move on. Carry on living.

Number 57 was the same as any other house on the street, and yet something about it screamed different, and it wasn't just the number of different emergency services vehicles parked in front of it. The garden was pristine; clearly a lot of hard work and dedication was put into it. All the flowers were in full bloom and as he walked up the past the colours posed dramatically craving his attention. It was ironic how pleasant it was to walk up the front drive; even though he knew on the other side of the door laid a dead body.

The scarlet red front door stood out boldly against the yellow-cream flagstones and pistachio green grass. Whoever lived in this house had an eye for colour. Leo imagined them to be feminine, very graceful and well spoken. It was one of those houses you looked at and expected the people inside to lead perfect lives. Though that was very rarely the case. As a professor of pathology Leo had long since learnt not to judge a book by its cover.

The curtains had been drawn tightly behind the spotlessly clean double glazed windows. Whoever lived in this house was certainly not short of money.

The police officer on the front door nodded politely at Leo as he inspected his identification. He smiled as he gestured for the professor to walk through the door. Leo took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever he might find once he entered the house. Domestic violence was hard enough to deal with even without a death, and for him, the most senior pathologist at the Lyell centre, to have been called out, it had to be serious.

Stepping into a long hallway he recognised the outline of a body slumped against the open kitchen door. There was a carpeted staircase on the right hand side lead to the higher regions of the huge house. Leo made his way along the hallway taking careful notice of the marks on the wall, which suggested some had scraped their fingers along it, digging their nails in, as if they were being dragged against their will towards the now firmly closed front door.

There were no picture on the wall, a phone stood on a small table at the foot of the stairs to the left. There was a cupboard underneath the stairs, which from the vast amount of uncluttered space, he could only guess contained shoes and coats.

As he stepped into the kitchen he got his first proper look at the body. It was male, young, perhaps in his late twenties. His dark hair was matted down with blood and a large gaping wound in his forehead looked sticky as red continued to ooze out slowly. Leo estimated the man to be around 6ft, his sky blue eyes were empty as he gazed at the ice-cold stone floor, not that he could see it.

Hunkering down Leo carefully checked the body over with gloved hands. His hands worked quickly and of their own accord. After so many years and heavy commitment to the job he didn't have to think too much about what he was doing. He just got on with it. He rationalised that it was for the reason that cases didn't seem to affect him so much now. Maybe he'd grown used to it, maybe he'd got an arctic heart of steal to match the bitter cold steal tables he worked at and the freezing steal slabs he performed post mortems on.

Maybe he was just human. Just trying to find a way to cope.

He gestured to a policeman stood not to far away at the other side the kitchen that he was finished just as a smartly dressed man strode down the stairs, he had a sort of rugged look to him which Leo supposed gave him an element of charm with the women. It seemed to work for Harry. His back was perfectly straight and his chain was raised slightly giving him an air of authority. Following closely behind him was a women, Leo couldn't see her face. Her blonde hair looked confused, sticking up at odd angles, it looked as if she had run her hands through it too many times, out of despair or frustration? Only time would tell.

It often surprised Leo how many women were capable of murdering their partners when things got too much. Years and years of domestic violence would cause a split second reaction. Abuse could kill, yes, but whether it would kill the abuser or the victim was a different story entirely.

The young policeman having reached the bottom of the stairs looked up and nodded in acknowledgement towards the pathologist.

"DI Craig Flynn" He held out a hang, which Leo shook. Before Leo could introduce himself though the DI carried on. "I take it you've seen the body, sorry about that I was upstairs interviewing the lady behind me, she's understandably distraught considering the situation and…" he paused for a moment. "Sorry, I didn't let you introduce yourself…"

Leo smiled. Clearly this was his first serious case working alone. He'd met so many officers on their first crime scene alone that he new all the signs and could probably recite them in his sleep.

"I'm Professor Dalton"

He heard a shocked gasp from behind the DI and Leo reasoned that it must have come from the woman as there was no one else their. He looked behind the young man with his rugged-charm and towards the messy haired blonde. He mentally shook himself.

No.

No way.

It couldn't be.

"Theresa…" he choked out.

The woman nodded, Leo noted she had tearstains down her cheek and was still taking deep shakey breaths as though she was trying desperately hard to keep control of herself. Her gaze reluctantly left the floor as she stared into Leo's eyes before she settled her focus on a spot behind his head. Leo understood how awkward she felt. He could certainly say that feeling was mutual.

"Where… Where's Cassie?" He asked. She'd left his office hours ago, surely she would have been at home by now.

The woman in front of home broke down once more as her whole body shook. "He took her" She sobbed, "He's gone… He ran. He took her. She screamed. He killed…", she gestured towards the man slumped against the door. "He's got her… he's got our daughter…"

Leo took a deep breathe before looking straight at the DI.

"I can't do this case" he stated simply, "not if my daughters involved."


	6. Why'd you hide something so precious?

_Hey! Guess what? It's half term so I can't write more! I'll be able to update at least once a day if not more often... :D__Thank you to the lovely reviewers!  
Calliope - that doesn't make you pathetic that makes you a very lovely person and me love you lots and lots! :D I promise I will try to update every day just for you!  
tigpop - Thank you! Oh and my bump on the head is oaky now, painful, and I look like I'm growing an extra head but at least I'm not going dizzy anymore! :D  
This chapter is dedicated to both of you, **Calliope and tigpop**, for your lovely reviews!_Disclaimer: I don't own any recognisable characters, that hasn't changed at all since yesterday, I'm not even getting any closer to world domination and being able to control the show! But still... one day... and then we will have lots of Harry/Nikki!

Okay, So I don't really like this chapter but I think it's important to see (or read) Leo's reaction to the case/Cassie's disappearance. 

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

Chapter 6

He'd retreated back to the lab after a quick phone call to Harry to request that he took over the case. There wasn't another pathology unit in London that remotely matched their facilities at the Lyell centre and Leo didn't want anyone other than the best looking into his daughters case.

He supposed he could have called Nikki, but she had a tendency to get emotionally involved in cases and it didn't do her any good. Harry also already knew about his daughter. He wouldn't have to explain things to Harry, which made things easier for Leo. He could just go back to his office and think.

He'd only just got her back and now she'd been snatched away from him again.

Theresa hadn't looked pleased to see him; underneath the shock there was an expression that surprised him. He couldn't quite put a name to it nothing seemed to fit. However, it was quite plain to see what the look meant. She didn't want him around. She didn't want him in her daughter's life. In their daughter's life.

A surge of passionate anger ran through him. How dare she deny him the right to see his daughter for all these years? He had loved, cherished and cared for the both of them for so many years and this was how she saw fit to repay him, by hiding their existence from him. She let him think they were dead! Tears stung at his eyes but he refused to let them fall. He'd loved her, and she'd made a vow on their wedding day that she loved him too. What had happened? What had happened to her over those few years in police protection? Had she fallen out of love with him? What had possessed her to think that he didn't want to see his daughter? That after years of thinking they were both dead, he wouldn't welcome them with open arms. Even if she had realised she no longer loved him, his daughter, why couldn't he see her? He'd spent years grieving for the pair of them. Locking himself away, refusing to even get close to another woman that wasn't his wife, except for Nikki.

Nikki. He could see why he'd taken to her. He'd almost adopted her as a sort of surrogate daughter. A replacement for Cassie. He could see why, the blonde hair, the carefree attitude, the way she laughed, and most of all, the way she let things get too her. Having met Cassie he could see all these qualities in her. Her and Nikki were so alike. He'd been able to help Nikki like he should have been able to help his own daughter, his real daughter, with her problems.

He shook his head and slammed his fist down on the table in frustration.

Theresa had taken his daughter from him once, and now she'd done it again. She'd let a man into the house with a vicious temper. A man she knew she capable of doing something like this. She'd put his daughter into harms way for the sake of a relationship that wouldn't last! She'd told the police officer herself that she was about to end the relationship. That her boyfriend was abusive both verbally and physically towards her, and towards Cassie.

There was something else too. Another case. The DI had brought it up and Theresa had flashed a disturbing look in his direction. She clearly hadn't wanted to mention it in front of Leo.

What had happened?

Leo put his head in his hands and sighed as his mobile began to buzz rhythmically where it was laid on top of a pile of paperwork that still remained to be completed.

He read the name. Janet. She was probably wondering where he was. She'd know by now that he had passed the case onto Harry. Harry would probably have rang the house for more information, anything Leo had noticed that he possibly hadn't. Not that there would be anything. Harry was a very competent pathologist, a very talented pathologist. There was nothing Harry would miss at a crime scene. Every little piece of evidence would be spotted, noted down and collected, no matter how insignificant it seemed. Harry knew just as well as Leo did that those little pieces of unimportant looking evidence could be the key to solving a particularly tricky case.

He brought to the phone to his ear and spoke, his voice sounding rough and quiet.

"Hello Janet"

She sighed, she sounded relieved. "Are you alright Leo? Harry said you'd passed on the case to him… he rang… he wants to know if he can see your notes…"

She paused.

"Yeah, I'll send him a text, let him know I'll leave them on his desk…" He muttered.

She took a sharp intake of breath. "Is that where you are?" Her voice was an octave or two higher than normal. "Work?"

He sighed. He knew she'd be annoyed. He'd hardly spent any time with her recently. He was dedicated to his work, after all for so long he'd had nothing else.

"Yeah. I'm setting off home now though…" He tried to appease her.

"Fine. I'll see you later" She muttered.

"Okay, see you later" He sighed before putting the phone down.

His relationship was Janet was pretty strained at the moment. Tonight was supposed to be about them, but after the case he'd just needed time to himself, and so he had returned to the lab and hidden in his office. Of course there was the likelihood that Nikki was still around somewhere. She often worked through the night, trying to find the little piece of evidence that would solve a case, that would bring about justice and allow the family whose life had been turned upside down some peace of mind. He'd often come in to work to find her asleep of the sofa in his office, a disarray of blonde hair curled up breathing gently. He'd told her that she should go home at night, reprimanded her, telling her she couldn't expect to keep the high standard of work the Lyell centre demanded if she was suffering from fatigue. He didn't want her collapsing.

However there was another reason for trying to break Nikki's bad habit. He didn't want her to become like him. He had spent one to many nights on the sofa in his office after his dedication to work called for him to pull an all-nighter.

It was for that reason that he hadn't been at home the night before the car accident. It was for that reason he hadn't tucked Cassie into bed that night after reading her a bedtime story. He hadn't kissed Cassie or his wife goodnight, and then they had been taken from him.

He'd always regretted that.

He sighed again and picked up his briefcase from under his desk throwing his phone into it and then pulling his coat on and grabbing his car keys he made his way down to the damp deserted car park.


	7. I need someone I need you

_Two updates in one day! However there's no much action in this chapter.  
Thank you for the lovely reviews - **tigpop** and **pinkswallowsun** - this update is for you!_

_World Domination Update: I have converted two of my friends into avid harry/nikki fans! I forced them too watch all the silent witness DVD's I could find! :D_

_Please review after reading this, it makes me update quicker when I know people are reading this... :)_

_Disclaimer: It pains me to say that I still don't own silent witness nor any of it's characters. I pray that one day I will take over and create a world where Harry and Nikki are together and married with lots of little pathologist babies!_

Enjoy,  
Much love x

**Chapter Seven**

She ran. Pushing her way through brambles and past branches. The dense woodland crept up around her, pulling her right into the heart of it. The sepia world around her blurred, as chocolate, chestnut and copper all merged together. Rough bark caressed her skin, thorns and long spindly braches reached out a scratched at ivory. Tawny owls, tan rodents and other taupe creatures ran riot around her slowly scattering into the vast darkness.

The mess of moss coloured objects were unrecognisable almost as she sped on, no idea where she was heading. The celadon and pistachio leaves formed a canopy overhead guarding the foreboding inklike sky. The starless canvas hung above her head predicting eminent distress. The below zero temperatures had cause goose bumps to erupt along her arms whilst the fierce arctic wind ripped at her frozen face.

Daring to glance behind her she let out a relieved sigh at the fact she was alone. She had escaped. However part of her felt disturbed by this snippet of information. She was alone. The thin hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and no longer were the goosebumps simply there because of the vicious threats of the cold conditions. Fear had come out to play.

Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't bitten his arm causing him to relinquish his hold on her. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn't fled into the forest her house backed on to. Maybe she shouldn't have kept running, fleeing the scene behind her. She should have stopped when the suggestion that he was no longer following her came into her head. That way she wouldn't be in the rayless creepy situation she current found herself in.

The forest, like a phantom, crept behind her. It watched her every move. She was unsure of whether it was seeking to endanger her or protect her. It was there. The idea of being trapped, unable to escape, in the heart of this black hole shook the terrified young girl to her core, both metaphorically and physically, or so it felt.

Suddenly she felt a surge of despair race through her veins. What was she going to do? It was starting to rain and the petite droplets were quickly becoming small vapidly falling oceans. The water seeped through her thin clothing and cascaded down her back making her shiver involuntarily. Anyone who saw her now would find it impossible to decipher where the rain stopped and the tears began, and whether or not she was shaking because she was crying, or because it was beyond freezing outside and the distressed teenager was wearing nothing but a thin grey cardigan over a cream colour vest top with her short black pleated school skirt and laddered tights. Though it was clear the tights hadn't simply laddered. They were shredded, as if someone had clawed through them in a fit of rage.

The girl's sobs had soon become hysterical and as she whipped around frantically trying to remember which way she had come she fell to her knees, the fallen leaves and dusty gravel scrapping at her skin through the holes in her tights. Her voice was broken and quiet as she managed to choke out a few words.

"Please, anyone, help me".

* * *

The door to his house was painted a glossy shade of midnight blue and as he clambered out of the car and made his way up the garden path Leo saw the hallway light flicker on.

Janet had seen him coming.

The door swung open just as he stepped through it, behind it Janet peered up towards him carefully studying his face. He learnt down and gave her a tender kiss.

"Sorry about that" he muttered.

She sighed. "It's not a problem Leo. I just wish we spent more time together."

He nodded at her, "I know, so do I."

She sighed again betraying her thoughts. He knew she didn't think he meant that. He was never here, whenever he was given the choice to work or stay home, he chose to work. She hated it about him but she always let him go anyway. She knew just how dedicated he was to his job. How much he felt he owed his job for keeping him sane over the years before he had met her, since he'd lost his family.

When she looked up at him again she wore a hurt expression upon her face.

"You went back to work," she whispered.

He sighed. He knew he had to tell her. She would only get suspicious and worried otherwise, like any other women would. She would begin to wonder why the man who claimed to love her so much was spending so much time at the office. He would loose her, just like he'd lost Theresa.

"Let's go and sit down." He said softly.

As he turned around and pulled off his coat, placing it on one of the hooks behind the door he heard her take a sharp breath. He didn't want to even think about what she had assumed he was about to say. He slipped his shows off his feet and made his way into the front room where he took a seat on the cappuccino leather sofa that he and Janet had bought just a few months previous.

She sat beside him cautiously; her body tense, clearly worried about what he was about to tell her.

Looking her in the eye he smiled, hoping he looked reassuring. He placed his hand on her upper arm and squeezed gently.

"Someone came to see me the other day" He started, "Someone I thought I'd never see again…"

She looked up at him, her eyes questioning, but she said nothing.

He took a deep breath and carried on. " The phone call… it was… the case…" He stumbled over his words.

"Leo" Her voice was soft, "Leo what's wrong?"

"Cassie." He said quickly.

A puzzled expression ran swiftly across her face before a concerned one took its place.

"Leo, she's gone. She's…" Her eyes were pleading with him, desperate for him to see sense.

"No. She's not, and neither is Theresa. They've been living here in London for six years… six whole years and they never thought to tell me! Well, Cassie did, but Theresa wouldn't let her contact me in any way…"

Janet simply looked shocked.

"The case, it was domestic violence case, at their house…" he looked into her eyes, not missing the spark of worry that had settled there, the insecurity he knew she was feeling. He needed to put her mind at ease. He wasn't going to leave her. "Janet, Theresa doesn't want me around, she doesn't even want me to see my own daughter, her new boyfriend, he tried to attack her by the looks of things, he lashed out and killed the neighbour who came across to make sure they were alright…"

He paused taking in his girlfriend's appearance. The insecurity still showed, but she seemed to be more at ease than she had when he'd first mentioned Theresa.

"Are they both alright?" She whispered.

Leo gulped, the tears stinging his eyes again, threatening to fall, something that didn't go unnoticed by Janet. She placed her hand inside his gently and held on.

"Cassie… She's missing' he sobbed before letting the tears fall.


	8. I'm afraid the news isn't good

_Hello!  
Thank you for all your lovely reviews, I was sat at my computer smiling like a complete loon whilst I was reading them. :D  
**tigpop**, **EmmaJ1996**, and **Calliope **- this is for you, although I know there's no mention of Leo or Cassie here, I think it's time to uncover a little bit more of what Theresa's hiding from everyone :). Oh and Calliope, I am indeed a girl! :D_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review once you've read it, let me know what you think!_

A little notice as well, I am propbably going to change the rating on this story, I think it will need to be a little higher due to the subject content that will occur in the next few chapters... you'll understand more after reading this chapter but some people may find it a little distressing. 

_Disclaimer: I don't own them. None of them. The BBC have full ownership and until I find an army big enough (perhaps I'll hypnotise jelly babies!) to storm in and take over, they will still own Silent Witness and all recognisable characters. _

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

**Chapter Eight**

In the offensive bright whiteness of the hospital waiting room sat a disgruntled woman, the pallid walls and a pale sickly green floor serving only to make her feel worse. The hard plastic chair she sat on had been covered in another green more cushioned textile in order to make it feel more comfortable. However the idea was clearly a poor one, and the chair was still as uncomfortable as it would have been without it. On a small chestnut coloured coffee table there was a stack vibrantly coloured magazines, mainly aimed at women, with bold headlines shouting about the latest celebrity scandal.

After flicking through a couple the woman, who was sat pin straight on one of the chairs, stopped feeling sufficiently up to date with all the gossip. She didn't really care about whoever had stolen Paris Hilton birthday cake or the 'lovely' things Frank Lampard had said about Christine Bleakley after all she's his girlfriend, why wouldn't he be complimenting her? Did anyone really care whether or not the comments were made simply to have a dig at his former girlfriend? She highly doubted it.

On the wall to the wall to the side of her was a small stand holding leaflets informing her about the dangers of smoking whilst pregnant or teaching her about the various ways to treat the different types of cancer. She didn't want to read any of them. She'd rather sit and read one of the egotistical magazines with their airbrushed perfection and exaggerated stories. No, reading the leaflets wouldn't help her at all. They definitely wouldn't help her take her mind off why she was sat in a hospital waiting room at half past nine in the morning.

She focused on the receptionist. Her dark brunette hair scrapped back into a high ponytail. Her face was made up, dark blue eyes were line with charcoal eyeliner, and pastel pink eye shadow had been dusted across her eye lids and with the amount of mascara the young women was wearing it was a wonder she could open her eyes at all.

As a handsome male doctor stepped out of his room the receptionist looked up and fluttered her eyelashes in his direction whilst pouting her full blood red lips. The men however remained oblivious to the female's advances and carried on walking.

The sight almost made her want to laugh. Men. They were always blind to everything. No matter how hard is stared them in the face, they just couldn't see it. Leo for instance, hadn't noticed her falling out of love with him. Though she had often contemplated whether he had ever loved her, he may have had feelings for her, but in reality the only thing Leo could ever love was his job.

He had always wanted to be a pathologist. Even when they had been students at the their local secondary school, where the two of them had first laid eyes on each other, he had been adamant that he would become a successful pathologist.

Nobody had ever doubted him, not even their biology teacher, even though he had made the odd derogatory comment about Leo. She had always reasoned that the comments had only been uttered due to the frustration the teacher felt when he was out smarted or corrected by the sixteen year old student.

Of course Leo had always been incredibly intellectual, although his natural talent as an academic meant that he needn't have spent so much time revising – however hard working Leo always had to work a little harder. He always had to push himself, even if it pushed other people away.

He didn't have many friends at school. In fact if she remembered correctly his only friends were fellow members of the school science club and only hung around him because of the admiration they felt towards him. He was teased by the popular boys, the kind of boys that always made the football team and that worked out in the school gym every night after school simply to show off their abs and attract the attention of a few cheerleaders.

She had been once of those cheerleaders.

She'd watched the boys as they'd lifted weights topless, flexing their muscles in order to make the girls watching from the side bat their eyelashes at them, very much like that young receptionist had done to the doctor.

She had looked on as the football team had started squaring up to Leo eager to pick a fight with the studious student. She had seen a flicker of something in Leo's eyes then, something that had set him apart from the rest. He wasn't jumping at the chance to beat someone up, but nor was he backing down. He wasn't going to run away like anyone else branded with the term 'nerd' would have done. He was willing to defend himself, back then something about that thought had made her laugh, perhaps it was the fact that scrawny Leo Dalton was prepared to fight the likes of muscular Arron Davis, who even the teachers were afraid of.

He was lucky that the football team were purely verbal with their abuse that day. Otherwise she dread to think of what might have happened to him. It was bad enough that Leo had seen fit to make some quite witty sarcastic comments back, including some that had been rather intelligent and had just flown straight over the heads of the members of the football team who rarely deemed it appropriate to turn up to a lesson. Had one of them swung a punch at the young scientist then they'd have all pounced on him. He wouldn't have stood a chance.

Suddenly the door at the far end of the corridor opened and a nurse in her late twenties stepped out before entering the small waiting room and surveying the scene before her. She turned towards the receptionist who handed her a thin brown cardboard file, which the nurse promptly flicked through before raising her head.

"Theresa Dalton?" The nurse's voice was clear and professional.

She stood up and the woman smiled at her, she seemed friendly enough. Theresa followed her back across the waiting room and towards the door from which the nurse had appeared. Gesturing for Theresa to enter the room the woman, dressed in her purple nurses uniform, who's name tag read 'Staff Nurse Daniels', reminded her that she'd need to make sure her phone was switched off otherwise it would effect the equipment in this room.

Theresa simply smiled and informed her that she hadn't brought her phone with her.

The doctor behind the desk was a woman in her mid-fifties. She was bushy brown hair that was held out her face with several hair grips however it was evident that some strands had escaped and she frequently brought her hand to her face to brush them out of her eyes.

Her doe-like hazel eyes were friendly and made Theresa feel comfortable.

As she took a seat the doctor spoke, her voice was melodic and soothing.

"We have the results of your tests here." She said.

Theresa felt anxious. What if things hadn't got better? What if they had got worse? Her daughter was missing, somebody had to search for her, and somebody had to care enough to keep pushing the police, to insist that they didn't give up looking for her little girl. Who would be there for her daughter when she arrived home from school after a particularly bad day, or when exams and revision were stressful? Tears began to well up behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, not until she knew for sure. Her mind went into over drive. What if it was bad news? What if she was about to be told that she might not be here when her daughter gets found? What is by the time the police find Cassie, and bring her home, she's laid cold and lifeless on a hospital bed ready to be transported to the morgue, to Leo's domain.

The doctor seemed to have noted her worried expression and her eyes changed, expressing the comfort Theresa needed as well as sympathy. Why sympathy?

"Oh God…" She whispered, her voice was hoarse as the words got caught in her throat.

The doctor reached over and placed her tanned hand over Theresa's pale one.

"I'm sorry Mrs Dalton, I'm afraid I don't bare good news…"


	9. Am I to just let go of the past?

_Hey! Here's todays second update, and I'm about to make a start on the next chapter which I'll hopefully upload first thing tomorrow morning. :D_

_No, you're still not going to find out what's wrong with Theresa! It's time for a bit of Leo with some Harry and Nikki thrown in... :)_

_Thank you to EmmaJ1996 for the review, you make me one very happy little writer! This chapter is dedicated entirely to you!_

_Please read and review! Let me know what you think... is this going to be Cassie? Or will it be false alarm? How should Nikki react the return of Theresa and Cassie?_

_Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to some very clever person at the BBC who woke up one morning with an excellent idea for a drama called Silent Witness... unfortunately that person is not me._

Enjoy,  
Much love x  


**Chapter Nine**

He found himself alone in his office again. The mahogany wooden desk was hidden underneath a paperwork mountain, the computer purring timidly somewhere underneath the collection of sticky notes that clung to the monitor. Sat in the comfortable red computer chair Leo slumped across his desk with his head in his hands. What on earth was he thinking? He should never have come into work today. Not after last night, not whilst Cassie was missing. He should be out there looking for her, doing his duty as her father.

He had received a phone call from his solicitor that morning; he could expect divorce papers through his door any day soon. Theresa had clearly been in touch with her lawyer the moment he had left her house last night. Part of him felt guilty, for being with Janet, technically he was having an affair. He was still married to Theresa and even though he had been lead to think she was dead, he still felt as though he had been unfaithful. He had married her, 'for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health'. He sighed. 'Till death do us part'.

Death hadn't parted them. A near death experience had. His wife and daughter had been placed in police protection and he was left to grieve over their loss. The police had looked him in the eye and expressed their condolences. They had stood in that churchyard beside him as he had said his last goodbyes to his family, the two people in this world whom he had loved more than anything and anyone else.

A surge of anger ran through him; all that time they had known. They had known that his wife and child were still alive and yet they had just stood there and given him sympathetic looks and told him how sorry they were for his loss.

He slammed his fist down on the table relived when he remembered that he hadn't opened the cream blinds that guarded the window of his office. At least none of the young technicians were looking on and watching this unusual display of behaviour. He didn't particularly want to be part of their gossip sessions in the small staff kitchen. They seemed to know everything, the technicians he employed. Their keen eyes were always watched, always noticing, and should anybody ever need information on any of their colleagues there was nothing they couldn't tell you over a quick cup of coffee.

Coffee. That was what he need right now, a cup of strong brown coffee, or something stronger. No. Coffee would do, he needed to be able to think clearly in case any news came in on Cassie.

He heard the sound of suppressed laughter from outside his office, and surely enough when he opened the door he could see the source. He watched his two younger colleagues, his friends, for a moment. Their behaviour often mimicked that of a flirtatious teenager fuelled by rampaging hormones.

Harry was stood, bent forwards slightly, behind Nikki, who was sat at his desk. They were staring at something intently on the screen of Nikki's laptop; Harry making the occasional whispered comment into the ear of his blonde co-worker. Nikki would giggle quietly and glance up at the rugged looking male behind her before quickly turning her attention back to the screen. Leo opened the door a little wider and slipped into the open space of the lab. Neither Harry nor Nikki paid him any attention, he laughed inwardly and he wondering when the pair would wake up and realise what was staring them right in the face.

Harry was now leaning on the desk, an arm either side of Nikki, the two of them still watching the screen. Harry whispered something to Nikki again making her eyes widened and her mouth for a little circle as tried hard not to snigger.

"Harry!" She admonished though there was a trace of a smile painted on her face.

He coughed, just loud enough for them to here. The both jumped like school children getting caught doing something they shouldn't be. Nikki's cheeks flushed an attractive blossom shade of pink, whilst Harry seemed to become incredibly flustered.

Leo raised an eyebrow, "Are those reports finished?"

Nikki smiled at him before standing up, a small jet-black folder in her hand.

He gave her a quick smile, "Put it on my desk please Nikki"

She hastily made her way into his office as Leo walked towards Harry.

"What about yours Harry?"

Harry looked at the floor and red hue rising to his cheeks. He hadn't done it. Leo knew that already of course, Harry's paperwork was never in on time, in fact he doubted Harry ever completed his paperwork, instead Leo was fairy certain that Nikki finished most of Harry's reports. Her elegant style was instantly recognisable.

Leo was thankful that Nikki took it upon herself to do such a thing, Harry was an excellent pathologist, indisputably one of the best in London, but his paperwork was distinctly lacking something, that something usually being the words themselves.

"I need it by the end of this week please Harry." He said simply to which Harry just nodded.

He was about to turn back around and head towards the kitchen and make himself that cup of coffee he had promised himself when Harry looked up at him.

"Any news on Cassie?" He asked.

Leo looked at him and shook his head. "Not yet. The police say that there are indications that she may not be with that Steven. Fresh footprint leading into the woodland at the back of the house or something, they said they'd be checking out the area today."

Harry nodded.

"Theresa seems to have changed." Harry stated.

Leo sighed, "Yeah, she couldn't even look me in the eye. I had a phone call today too, she's filed for a divorce…"

Harry shook his head, "I always thought, you know, that you and Theresa were the perfect couple. I mean I know I'd only ever seen you together a few times before the accident, and well, I know you're with Janet now… but… it just seems wrong… you know, her not wanting anything to do with you…"

"I know", Leo sighed again, "Life's complicated like that, I guess things just changed, maybe they'd changed before the accident and I was just to caught up here to notice anything."

The phone in his office rang, the shrill sound intruding on their conversation. Leo ignored it, instead choosing to focus his attention of a picture of himself, Nikki and Harry on a night out. Nikki was in his office anyway, whatever it was he was sure she could deal with it. She was by far the most competent young pathologist he had ever worked with and although whenever he was away he left Harry in charge, he only did so because he knew Nikki would keep him in line, and that if he didn't Harry would throw a tantrum like a three year old toddler refusing to go to bed.

He turned, as Nikki emerged from his office looking pale and shocked, as though she had just seen something disturbing.

"What's up Nikki?" Harry teased, "Seeing dead people?"

Leo rolled his eyes and Nikki lips fluttered into a small smile.

"Leo… that was the police, they said they couldn't get hold of Theresa and… well… that they think they've found Cassie…" She stuttered, tripping over the words as they fell from her mouth.

His heart stopped beating as he sprinted from the room and down to his car, pulling his mobile from his pocket and dialling the number of the DI he had met a the crime scene the day before.

* * *

Nikki stood there feeling left out. Harry looked worried, but for an entirely different reason she did. He clearly knew something she didn't.

"Harry what's going on?"


	10. Please not her, not my daughter

_Hey! Here's chapter ten and I've just this minute finished typing chapter eleven! I'll hopefully be making a start on chapter twelve later today. :D Before I do that I wanted to write a one shot that's been eating at my brain all day, I was starting at my 'Edward Monkton Penguin of Death' as inspiration hit me, but I didn't want to make a start on this till I'd got a little further with Returning._

_Thank you to tigpop, EmmaJ1996 and Calliope for the wonderful reviews! You make me a very very happy teenager!_

_Please read and review, let me know what you think, what needs improving/what's good... _

_I can't think of anything to write for the disclaimer write now, so I'll be blunt. I don't own Silent Witness, never have done, may do one day if someones ever stupid enough to give me some form of power... :D_

_Enjoy,_  
_Much love x_

**Chapter Ten**

The roads were packed like a shopping centre on Christmas Eve. Cars were queuing up for miles and the radio was being tight lipped on the cause of the traffic. All around him horns blared as it became necessary for frustrated drivers to vent their anger or risk insanity.

Leo was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, his foot hovering just above the accelerator, ready for when the traffic eventually started to move again – that was if it ever did.

Modern tower blocks towered above him, most of them used as offices for high-powered businesses with plenty of money, inside which busy people were running around fussing over trivial things that at the end of the day didn't even matter to anyone. It seemed so illogical that inside one of those offices someone could be fretting over whether or not they had ordered enough paper towels when the body of his daughter could have been recovered from a near by river.

They had found a teenage girl, roughly about 5ft 4, with long blonde hair and brown eyes. These few basic facts fit Cassie's description, but since they hadn't been able to get hold of Theresa they hadn't been able to formally identify the poor girl. So the task had befallen to Leo. Leo had laid eyes on his little girl for the first time in eight years only yesterday. It was much too soon for her to be taken from him again.

As he shuffled his way up the hill his thoughts wandered to where on earth Theresa could be. Would she have really turned her phone off whilst her daughter was missing? What sort of mother was she? She had not only denied her daughter to right to two parents, but was indifferent to the fact that her daughter could have been kidnapped and could possibly be in a life threatening situation! She should be frantic with worry, just like he was, but all he was getting from her at the moment was that she couldn't care less. Leo tried to reason with himself, maybe there were other things on her mind. Maybe there were things he didn't know about that might explain her current behaviour, because this wasn't the woman he had been madly in love with eight years ago. This wasn't the same Theresa he had married.

Thinking of his family only reminded Leo of his surrogate family. Harry and Nikki. Harry on one hand knew about Cassie, and knew of her disappearance, Nikki, on the other, didn't. Leo could picture her face as she told him about the phone call. The puzzled expression as Cassie's name slipped from her lips. The confusion written in all of her features as he had ran from the lab without a word, without an explanation.

He hadn't managed to speak to Nikki about Cassie. In truth Leo was worried about her reaction. Nikki had become so much like another daughter to him; Leo didn't know how she would handle Cassie's reappearance. Her own father had let her down, he simply used her and discarded her at his own will, he had spent years neglecting her forcing Nikki to come to the conclusion that no one would ever truly care about her.

He hoped that he gone at least some way to changing that silly notion of hers, but he didn't want her to think that with Cassie's return, he was simply going to forget about her, because he wasn't. Nikki was the kind of woman he hoped Cassie would one day turn out to be. Perhaps with a few less one-night stands, and definitely less kidnappings, but over all Nikki was the kind of loving and emotional person that he wanted his daughter to become.

Upon reaching the top of the hill the traffic began to ease and within ten minutes Leo was sat outside the Lyell centres rival pathology unit, unlike his own place of work this mortuary was not set inside a university campus, instead it had been built at the back of one of the many local hospitals. It had a specialist paediatric pathology unit where the majority of infants and children's cases went too. He supposed this made things easier from him and his team, it was rare that a child of any age appeared on one of their slabs unless is was related to one of the cases they'd already taken on, his meant they didn't have to face the emotional turmoil that they undoubtedly all felt when faced with the loss of such innocence. Cases involving children were always the worst.

As he stepped out of the car and into the dreary afternoon weather which currently consisted of a slight wind with the occasional spitting rain. He felt as though a depressing shroud had just been placed over the world, grey concrete, grey tarmac and dusty grey doors – there was no longer any colour in the world.

The atmosphere surrounding the paediatric pathology unit was devoid of emotion. The solemn expressions of those who walked past the doors foreshadowed what lay inside for those who stepped through the battered all door in its wooden frame.

Leo could have sworn that as he got closer to that door it got colder and the rain got heavier. As he stood one hand pressed against the door, the other by his side balled up in a fist, he mentally prepared himself for what possibly lay ahead of him. Part of him wanted to pray to a God he didn't even think he believed in, he was desperate. He would do anything so along as when he entered that room and took a look at the body he could say it wasn't her. It wasn't Cassie.

He pushed the door and entered a forlorn looking waiting room. A young woman was sat behind a desk; she smiled at him as he entered. He tried to return the friendly gesture but his lips wouldn't budge, and in the end his contorted features probably looked more like a grimace than a smile.

"I'm here to identify a body." He said to the woman.

She nodded and made her way into the small office behind her, where she picked up and phone and muttered something before returning to her chair.

"Professor Hayden will be down in a moment, if you'd like to take a seat." Her voice was professional, her speech well rehearsed.

He nodded before heading towards a chair in the furthest corner.

A few moments later a bold man that Leo estimated to be in his mid-sixties came into the waiting room, he scanned the area, noting that there was only Leo there.

"Mr Dalton?" He inquired.

Leo nodded. "Professor Dalton actually."

The man smiled looking intrigued. "Professor of what?" He asked.

"Pathology" Leo couldn't help but smirk at the old mans expression.

The man nodded repeatedly, "Very good. Very good. Very rare I get to meet a fellow pathology professor these days. You're here to identify a body? Follow me, follow me…"

Leo noted that the professor seemed a little startled by the introduction and chose not to answer any of the stuttering mans questions, though they were probably meant rhetorically anyway.

The morgue was very much like the one back at the Lyell centre, though there was a brightly coloured visitors room with a box overflowing with toys that was absent back at the office but could be found here.

At the far end of the lab, still inside a black body bag, was the teenager they had pulled from the river. He took a deep breath and the elderly pathologist asked him if he was ready. He just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Please God, he said to himself, please don't let this be here. Not my little girl. Please.

Leo wanted to look away as the rip was pulled down revealing the vacant expression on a young girls face. Her blonde hair was plastered across her face, deep purple bruises underneath her eyes and deep angry looking scratches down her neck. Automatically Leo started to make a mental note of the injuries he could see, possible cause of death and an estimated time of death before realising the elderly man were staring at him. He still hadn't said anything.

He forced himself to really focus on the girls face, and as he did so he let out a relived breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. The girl couldn't be more than thirteen years old, and a wave of relief consumed him, and although the emotion made him feel ever so slightly guilty, as this was still someone's daughter, it wasn't his little girl. His little girl was possibly still alive. She was still fighting.

He looked up at the professor, a slightly feeling of sympathy for him. The identity of the teenager still remained unknown, but nothing could erode the elated feeling inside him. It wasn't Cassie.

The old man raised an eyebrow and Leo simple stated, "That's not my daughter."


	11. Running again

_Hey! Here's todays second update!_

_Thank you to Calliope, tigpop and EmmaJ1996 for the lovely reviews! I hope this answers some of your questions, although it may leave you with a few more!_  
_I'm on my way towards finishing chapter twelve and chapter thirteen is already begining to take formation inside my head._

_Please read and review, otherwise my penguin and his enigmatic smile might have to pay you a visit! (Edward Monkton is a genius!) Hopefully at least EmmaJ1996 understands my weird ramblings here! :D_

_This chapter is dedicated to all my readers, especially those who review! You make make me look like an idiot by smiling at the computer screen like a loon but I love you all for it!_

_Enjoy!_  
_Much love x_

**Chapter Eleven**

The wetness in the ground beneath her was seeping through her skin, chilling her bones. She tried to move but found she couldn't. Every muscle in her body was screaming at her, desperate for warmth. Underneath her frail body she could feel the sticky mud sucking her downwards and the rotting leaves decomposing around her.

The dishevelled mess of clothes and blonde hair on the floor twitched every now and again and eventually managed to force her heavy eyelids open. She still couldn't move the rest of her body. Each of her limbs felt excessively heavy, it was almost as if some copious amount of air was sat on top of her keeping her on the floor.

Her throat was dry, her lips parched. It would do her no good to attempt to scream, it was highly unlikely that anyone would hear her. Any judicious person with an ounce of common sense stuck to the outer edges of the woodland, if the sheer density of the forest wasn't off putting enough then the rumour of the various people that lay lurking within the trees, ready to pounce on an innocence party simply walking there dog or taking a jog, was enough to scare most people away.

She tried again to sit up, this time succeeding and immediately began to massage her legs hoping that the she could get her circulation going once more. She needed to be able to stand. It was no good her just sitting there simply waiting for something to happen. If someone did find her, it was stupid to think that they were definitely going to help her. What is it was Steven? How would she escape his clutches again if she couldn't even stand up properly?

There was a bitter acidic earthly taste to the air. The light was fading, creating new shadows and dark patches around her. She lifted her face, letting the light and shadow dance across her skin. Bees hummed in and out of the undergrowth. She inhaled the smell of wet earth. It was so natural and Cassie new that in another situation she would be revelling in the sights and smells surrounding her and delighting in the sound of her feet sliding through the leaves. Now wasn't that time though. Eyes glimmered from tree hollows. The wind wailed between distorted trunks, carrying the sickly stink of wood rot. She pulled herself to her feet, ignoring the spindly twigs that caught at her tights and the damp leaves that grimed her skin leaving a sticky trail of some clear substance on her pale hands.

As she forced herself in the direction she presumed the edge of the forest would be, she could feel the rough bark and slimy lichen underhand, and the tickling of spider web strands that caressed her skin. Long grass was sliding against her legs and the uneven ground beneath her feet was litter with rocks, small twigs and pine needles. Tree roots crept from beneath the dark soil, suddenly appearing, trying to trip her up.

The seemingly still forest with alive with sounds you could only hear if you focused properly. The chattering of squirrels as they clambered through the trees, small insects humming as they continued with their daily business undisturbed by the bedraggled teenager limping through the woodland.

She was brought to a halt by a sudden thundering beat of wings against small bodies as birds scattered across the sky screeching wildly clearly frustrated by being disturbed from a peaceful slumber in the lower branches of the towering oaks that she was surrounded by.

Her erratic breathing was loud and Cassie tried desperately to control it, to quieten her down so she could distinguish what is was that had so rudely interrupted the birds. Everything stopped; even the trees stood utterly still, statues in a living museum where no leaf dared to fall.

The sound of feet shuffling through detritus and the rhythmic beat of paws on damp earth filled her head, the sound crashing loudly in her ears like drumsticks in the hands of a giant.

Somewhere out of a sight a branch snapped and a male voice silenced an excited yapping dog. As Cassie peering through the dense undergrowth she could just make out a startling red anorak back in the direction she had come. Upon hearing the voice her heart leaped into her mouth. Could it be Steven? The voice was deep and authoritive, it sent a shiver down her spine. As she pulled herself up right the man squinted his eyes in her direction and Cassie knew straight away that he had spotted her.

"Hey! You!" He shouted.

Cassie did the only thing she could think of. She ran.

She pushed on past moss covered tree trunks with ambling vines snaking around them, the shifting light patterns left her dazed, she had no idea what direction she was running in.

She suddenly found herself sprinting towards daylight and bursting into the wide-open space before stopped feeling a tight uneasy pain in her abdomen. She looked around fearfully and found herself in a churchyard.

The graves were marked with elderly weathered headstones, some leaning together like old friend, others stood crooked and crumbling away. At first sight, this section of the churchyard appeared to be abandoned but, although scattered rather sparsely, there were still trinkets and tokens of love beside some of the graves, though they had taken a severe beating from the weather.

Wreaths and flowers withered before her very eyes. There were plaques with prayers etched on them watched over by the decaying visitor benches and monumental statues depicting angels and children. Debris cluttered the floor. Leaves and twigs were strewn across graves and in places the grass was patchy or overgrown. There were signs of dead trees that had fallen and been left to rot away eventually becoming one with the earth whilst wild bushes and flowers competed for space and light. The cracked and vandalized masonry of the ancient church at the far end of the graveyard was evidence enough that should the man catch her in this deserted area, they would not be interrupted, she would not be found by anyone willing to help her. She wandered along the cracked stone pathway, hunched over with one hand clutched tightly to her stomach, dodging the weeds and thistles that reached out towards her. Her eyes stung with hot tears ready to fall as the pain worsened. She wanted to scream in agony, but the man could still be following her, and there was no way she could run from him again. She didn't have the strength.

She stumbled, weaving her way in and out of the headstones, glancing at the eroded names of a few. Through her own pain she managing to feel pity for those people, who either had no one who cares enough to look after their graves, or who simply didn't have any surviving family or friends.

Right now she wanted her dad. She had only met him for the first time in eight years yesterday but he had shown her more love and more attention in those few hours than her mother had through the years she had kept her hidden away from him. She felt a rush of anger directed at her mother. How dare she keep her away from her father? She had no right to refuse her the love of two parents. She laughed inwardly; her mother hadn't shown much love towards her since Steven had reared his unwanted face. Her mother had been hooked on him from the word go, she had never listened to Cassie's warnings nor her pleas. She had ignored his behaviour last year. She didn't care about what he had done to her daughter. The scars he had created, both physically and mentally. Cassie was still tormented my nightmares even now, she found it hard to close her eyes whenever he was in the house for fear he might choose to repeat his actions.

A searing pain shot through her stomach as she fell to the floor. Her eyes were aching pools of sadness and her vacant expression suggested she was no longer seeing the graveyard around her. Her breathing had become laboured and irregular, her crumpled body became limp and her fisted hands uncurled as all tension flooded out.

There were heavy footfalls from somewhere above her as the man she had fled from came in to her view, his face unfocused and blurry, before darkness descended on her.

The man bent over her unmoving body.

"Are you alright love?"


	12. Getting found and Nights out

_Hey! Here's chapter twelve, sorry there's only one update today, it'll be the same tomorrow I'm afraid seeing as I've got to babysit._

Thank you to **tigpop **and **calliope **for their reviews!  
**calliope **- in answer to your question, nope I'm not a published writer, I'm just a sixteen year old girl with a verging on unhealthy love of Silent Witness and a passion for writing... :D. 

_I've got chapters thirteen and fourteen finished now, this is a bit of a filler, I felt like I was leaving Harry and Nikki out, they're like family to Leo and they are bound to know somethings wrong, even if Nikki doesn't know about Cassie and Theresa yet. Another reason for the little bit at the end is that I wanted to seperate Cassie going into hospital and Leo arriving at the hospital but the chapter was too short without the Harry/Nikki bit at the end..._

_Read and review please - do you think there's to much discription in these chapters? is there anything you particularly want to see happen?_

_Disclaimer - Me owning Silent Witness and all it's character is like pigs flying - it just hasn't happened yet._

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

**Chapter Twelve **

She was cold. Numb. What had happened to her? She could feel hands searching her skin, finding her pulse. There were voices swimming somewhere above her but she couldn't quite place them. Her eyelids were like lead and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't force them open.

A wave of nausea hit her and she tried to sit up but there were two strong hands on her shoulders holding her down. The smell of aftershave filled her senses and then the sound of skin on skin before the hands disappeared.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at the shocked paramedic above her. She grimaced as she felt the stinging sensation in the palm of her hand and her eyes connected with his throbbing red cheek.

A woman stood slightly behind him before making her way to Cassie's side.

"It's alright sweetheart, you're scared and confused. It was only natural to react like that." She said soothingly.

Another wave a nausea hit her and Cassie began to retch as the woman helped pull her up into a sitting position before trusting a cardboard dish under her face which she promptly threw up in. The harsh bitter taste stung her throat making her want to start retching all over again.

The woman began to check her over starting with her vitals, and then as she worked, she started to question Cassie. Where had she come from? What had she been doing? How long had she been outside? Where did the cut in her arm come from? Had she bumped her head at all? There were too many questions for Cassie to focus on. She didn't particularly want to answer the first two; she didn't want to remember what she had been running from. She didn't really know the answer to the third or forth though from the unwavering heavy beat behind her head she probably had hit her head as she had collapsed to the floor.

The woman began to stick several needles in her arm whilst rambling on, Cassie guessed she was letting her know what was happening to her, but she didn't really care, all she wanted right now she to be somewhere safe and warm, somewhere she could speak to her dad. Somewhere she could tell him about Steven, about what he had done. Maybe her dad would take her away from him. Maybe her dad would be able to stop Steven from hurting her and her mother. Then again, maybe she was expecting too much, it had been eight years since she had last seen him and she wasn't that naïve kid anymore. Would her dad want a sixteen-year-old daughter? Did she really expect him to appear and make everything better like a fairy godmother in one of those childish fairytales she had once read?

She tried to focus on the woman and her vibrant green uniform but once again the world around her seemed to blur and as dizziness hit her hard the darkness descended once again.

The ambulance doors swooshed open into chaos; beds lined the hall, each holding a moaning, writhing patient, the victim of some nasty illness or accident. Nurses in pastel blue scrubs scurried from patient to patient, assessing the worst cases and screaming for the attention of the busy doctors. The procession pushing the crash cart containing the limp body of a blonde teenage girl sped down the hall Doctors swarmed around her bed, like bees serving their queen, racing death to the finish line, praying that they were not too late.

* * *

Nikki found herself alone in the pub waiting for Harry to arrive, they'd have driven there together if it wasn't for the fact that he'd gotten an important phone call and rushed away telling her he'd meet her there later.

Nothing made sense to her anymore. The man on the phone had clearly mentioned Cassie and Theresa, Leo's family, but they were dead. They'd died in a car accident eight years ago! The police officer though, he'd mentioned them using the present tense, almost as though they were still alive. She shook her head clearing herself of the thought; her hair tickled her face in a soft caress and she downed the rest of her drink.

She'd gotten to the pub at around half past six, fifteen minutes before she was due to meet Harry, ad after a slight hesitation, she'd squeezed herself onto the only vacant seat at the bar-a stool with a torn leather seat. Although they were some seats towards the back of the pub, where she would probably head with Harry when he eventually arrived, she wanted to keep the main entrance in her sight otherwise they'd probably spend the entire evening searching for each other. Unlike most of the bars Harry picked, there was no smoke cloud hovering above the room, forcing her to adopt a squint as she watched the doors. TVs blared overhead and several regulars slouched forwards either side of her, the collection of empty shot glasses and beer mugs in front them suggesting they'd been there a while. She set my purse on the worn bar and tried to flag down a bartender, accidentally dragging her sleeve through a spill of beer. Damn it! She glared at the door; trust Harry to be late, she could sense already that this wasn't going to be her night at all.

Cheap perfume and aftershave clung to the air mingling with the stale smell of sweat as the number of drinkers steadily increased. People were sat in groups around tables, coats slung over backs of chairs haphazardly, the laughter grew more lively and the talk more animated as time wore on. Nikki dared to glance at her watch; he was half an hour late!

The bartender swaggered over, his blonde hair carefully coifed and his shirt a size to small in order to show off his muscular toned body. He eyes were an electric shade of blue and suddenly Nikki found herself with an urge to make the most of her night. She threw a smile in his direction and lent over the bar, her low cut top leaving little to the imagination.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked, his voice implying more.

"I'm sure you can…" She bit her lip suggestively before giggling softly. "Same again."

He smirked before heading off, returning seconds later with her drink.

She'd been flirting with him for roughly an hour now, there was something about him she liked. He was rough and he had that bad boy attitude she'd found appealing particularly as a teenager. He was undoubtedly handsome, and possessed an incredibly funny sense of humour. Nikki found she had relaxed considerably and trying to remember when she started enjoying herself. Was it when she decided to just let loose and flirt with the bartender or when the alcohol set in? Either way she didn't care. This was exactly what she needed after been stood up by Harry, a pointless one night stand.

Harry rushed up the stairs in front of the pub and pushed the door open. He called by Nikki's flat first as he'd highly doubted that after he hadn't shown she'd have wanted to stay out but no one answered the door and the lights weren't on. He'd tried ringing her mobile but to his frustration there was no answer.

Scanning the bar area he caught sight of her blonde hair. She was leant over the bar having what he could only describe as an intimate conversation with the bartender. He watched as she licked her lips suggestively constantly eying up the man in front of her, who was clearly about to become another one of her unsuitable men. Throughout the entire interaction the guy hadn't once looked at Nikki's face, instead he had been staring straight down her top and what Harry found most surprising, was that Nikki hadn't said anything.

Harry waited for a point in which he'd be able to interrupt. He watched as a man attempted to get the bartenders attention. Nikki giggled at something the 'unsuitable' muttered to her before he went to serve the impatient customer. Harry swiftly took hold of this chance to speak to Nikki and made his way over to her.

"Nikki"

She spun round quickly and took a step before him. She was swaying gently on the spot and her words were slurred.

"You're late!" She announced.

"Niks, I'm sorry… I…"

The young man had returned, this time in a casual t-shirt, he slipped an arm around Nikki's waist.

"Ready to go babe." He asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry before throwing him a slight smirk as Nikki nodded, and with that the pair pushed there way through the crowd leaving Harry wondering whether they'd go back to his place or hers.


	13. It's the not knowing that hurts most

_Hello!  
Sorry this is up a bit later than normal, I've had a busy day babysitting for my cousin. She was good as gold though :D  
Here's the next chapter! I've finished writing fourteen and fifteen and I plan to make a start on chapter sixteen tonight! :)  
__  
Thank you to **EmmaJ1996**, **Calliope **and **tigpop **for the lovely reviews!  
**EmmaJ1996 - T**he penguin is keeping me very happy and very inspired... which means I can do lots and lots of writing! x**  
Calliope **- Sorry! It's no joke, I really am only sixteen :D I'm very very flattered but I'm sure your writing is a lot better than mine! x_

_Please review! Everyone who reviews may have a lovely surprise waiting for them in chapter sixteen... (as long as you leave your name) :D_

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

**Chapter Thirteen**

His gaze swivelled over the waiting room the receptionist had directed him towards, looking for a place where he could sit. A TV played quietly in one corner, a distraction that might help keep his mind off the fact his daughter was fighting for her life in a room surrounded by strangers who had no idea how to comfort or reassure her. The seats closest to the screen stood empty, he noted that they were sandwiched between two sweating and shivering men. As one leaned forward and filled the space with harsh, hacking coughs, he understood why no one else had jumped at the prime location. He steered himself over to a chair at the fair end of the waiting room, the bland walls and tableful of torn magazines suddenly much more appealing.

The place was busy with doctors, nurses, paramedics, volunteers, porters and visitors swarming around. There was the nauseating smell of cleanliness, it stung the back of his throat and made his eyes water.

The doors were sliding open and shut as patients and staff entered and exited, the flow of life never ceasing. From somewhere in the heart of the hospital he could screams, people crying out for loved ones, the gasps, moans and hisses of pain as doctors and nurses dealt with the wide variety of injuries. People spoke in low voices, as was seen to be the correct sort of etiquette whenever you found yourself in the company of someone ill. An intercom called out codes and directions that only the staff could decipher, and even then Leo was fairly sure that most of the bustling bodies dresses in scrubs of various different colours weren't paying any attention in the slightly to the mechanical voice. Wheel chairs squeaked on the polished floor and the clack of the receptionist's manicured fingernails upon the keyboard mingled with the low-volumed hum of a radio.

The heavy laboured breathing of waiting patients mixed with the rattle of newspapers and the wheezing and coughing from one corner of the waiting room that no one else would dare approach.

All around him there were cleaning staff spraying down surfaces desperate to meet the government cleanliness targets. Families stood up, their chairs scraping along the floor before being replaced by the whine of rubber soles against the floor, as they were lead by a doctor into a small room. The people left in the waiting room would grow stiff as they waited for the inevitable sound of the screams and sobbing that would surely emerge from the room as a little more hope was crushed with the help of a few hard hitting words. The sound would leave many of the members of the waiting room gripping knees or armrests as they too waiting to be delivered bad news.

A young woman was sat opposite him with a boy aged about five or six years old who he presumed was her son. She was trying to get him to focus his attention on the TV screen rather than on the bloody mess his arm was but she wasn't willing to take him any closer due to the hairy man with the particularly disgusting cough. The child wasn't paying much interest to her attempts anyway, he seemed almost fascinated by the amount of blood that had poured from his arm painting the home made bandage that had been slung round it a rather vivid red colour.

He glanced over the receptionist who had a small frown etched on her face as a man stumbled towards her desk. He was dressed rather shoddily in a pair of patched up trousers and a dirty off-white shirt that looked as though it had never seen an iron. His body was swaying and even from across the room Leo could see his eyes were bloodshot, his pupils dilated and his face red with a think layer of sweat visible. The crinkled face of the receptionist as the man leant over the desk told Leo everything about what the man's breath smelt like – the stale stench of alcohol. That mingled with the sweaty odour the man was no doubt producing was enough to make anyone feel like vomiting. He felt sorry for the young woman behind the desk who was obviously finding the whole situation highly unpleasant but was handling it with the sort of experience that came with dealing with a situation day-in-day-out.

The entire waiting room was startled as the man slammed his fist down on the desk, raising his voice, his slurred words sliding into one another making them indistinguishable. Tension hung in the atmosphere as they waited for the man with his sallow yellowing skin and puffy eyes to finish his rant, but instead he began to grow steadily angrier and more aggressive.

The receptionist clearly didn't know how to handle the situation and began to shout for security. The drunk didn't like this and began to spew out a whole new tirade of abuse directed at the fearful young woman.

Three men with broad shoulders and solemn faces dressed in black bullet proof police vests came running down the stairs towards the scene. Grabbing hold of the man they proceeded to drag him down one of the many corridors that lead off the waiting room. One of the nurses rushed over to the receptionist and wrapping one arm around her shoulders ushered her into the near by staff room. Leo decided that the least that woman needed right now was a cup of tea with plenty of sugar just to get over the shock, by look of her deathly-pale face she could do with being sent home to recover. However he knew that situations like that arose every day and that over time the woman would become thick-skinned and although the hurling abuse would probably still bother her, she wouldn't let it show.

A tall doctor had emerged from the room in which his daughter had been taken; he scanned the sea of faces before his eyes settled on Leo. He began to walk over and suddenly Leo's heart went into over drive. What if he didn't have good news? What would he do if he were asked to follow him into that room? How would he handle the death of his daughter the second time around? It had been hard the first time and it had been only last week that he had thought of her and Theresa, a thought that had brought tears to his eyes. He had just got her back; he couldn't lose her again, not so soon.

He looked at the doctor. His skin was tanned, evidently the man had just come back off holiday, and his eyes were a startling shade of green, which Leo was surprised to discover he found comforting rather than unnerving. This expression was sombre, his mouth drawn in a straight line, but his eyes held a flicker of something else – something hopeful.

The doctor, dressed in a set of blue-teal coloured scrubs held out his hand, which Leo promptly shook.

"Professor Dalton?"

He nodded. "Yes. My daughter…" He started before the young doctor interrupted him.

"Is going to be fine, she had hypothermia, but we've warmed her up."

A sigh of relief escaped his lips, "Oh thank God"

The doctor smiled at him before frowning. "There were also a number of bruises and cuts, some of which were recently, others less so…"

Leo joined the young doctor in frowning.

"I'm afraid I don't live with her, she was involved in something a few days ago but I'm not aware of anything else…." As he spoke he realised he probably sounded like a rather negligent father and so he added, "We were estranged, it's only recently that she's found me again."

The doctor nodded.

"You haven't been able to contact her mother yet?" Leo asked.

Shaking his head the doctor sighed. "No, but she's listed as next of kin and we haven't been informed of any changes in her contact details." The doctor paused for a second but continuing, "Would you like to see your daughter now?"


	14. Everything's going to be okay

_Hello!  
Well I've gotten chapters fifteen, sixteen and seventeen done now, although I will put a quick message out there to the following amazing people: **Calliope, EmmaJ1996, tigpop and Lizziginne **- This is optional but if you want to message me with a bit about yourself, I can use it for your surprise otherwise I might have to make something up, but I think that takes something away from the surprise... I think I've just given the surprise away... opps, I didn't mean to do that :S_

Thank you for all the lovely reviews, I'll throw those names out there again because these people are truely amazing and managed to put a smile on my face after i got some particularly bad news - **Calliope, EmmaJ1996, tigpop and Lizziginne.**

_Another Leo and Cassie centred chapter! :D_

Please review after you've read - it makes me and my baby niece (who is sat on my lap as I type this) very very happy! I hoping to make her into a Silent Witness lover like me! She will of course be very pro-Harry/Nikki! :D

Enjoy,  
Much love  
x

**Chapter Fourteen**

His hands gripped the cold metal bed rails tightly as he looked at his daughter her head laid on the soft pillows, her frail body tucked beneath the crisp white sheets. A smooth plastic emergency remote lay on the small bedside cabinet beside her bed.

Her face was creased in pain, her long honey blonde hair matted and falling across the face. The young doctors fingers probed at her stomach, and she winced slightly. There were bandages wrapped around her arms and one around her head hiding the numerous wounds she had sustained. An oxygen mask was pressed against her nose and mouth assisting her breathing.

She still looked cold, her skin was sallow and light reflected of the sheen of sweat on her forehead. She looked so small. It was at this moment that he noticed just how thin she was, her collarbone stuck out sharply through her skin, the hospital bracelet hung loosely around her tiny wrists.

Leo fumbled for her hand, gripping it in his own tightly whilst his other hand reached out to touch her face. He stroked his daughter's hand where it lay on the white hospital linen, her youthful skin as thin as rice paper. He held the tears back, not wanting someone catch him with them openly flowing down his cheeks. No doubt the police would arrive soon enough and demand that they spoke to her. He wasn't going to let them though. Not until she was ready to talk.

Nobody had any idea what she had been through, not even him. He had flicked through the chart that was hung on the edge of her bed, his eyes greedily scanning the doctor's notes for any indication of what she might have been though, anything that might give him some clue how to help her when she finally came round.

According to the notes there were signs of previous broken bones that had gone untreated, and there were several bruises and scars from past injuries. He knew exactly who had caused them, he knew exactly who needed to be punished but his logical scientific mind also told him that although the police would listen sympathetically to his claims, there was no evidence as of yet to support them. For anything to be done Cassie needed to wake up and tell them precisely what had happened to her, but would she want too? Would Cassie feel that she could trust someone after everything that had happened? He had always hoped to be the kind of father his daughter could turn to no matter what, but after she had been ripped away from him he'd never had the chance to be that person. Now, she was back in his life, she was right in front of him, and although she looked as fragile as the finest porcelain doll, she was alive. She was here.

He paced around the room, waiting for her to awaken. The doctor had said it would be within the next hour, an hour that had slipped away tediously slowly. He had rearranged all of the objects on the bedside cabinet several times. The tall vase, currently empty, reminding Leo that he'd have to go and pick some flowers up from the gift shop he'd seen upon entering the hospital. He'd straightened out her bed sheets, tucking her back in every time she kicked the covers off, it was important now that she kept warm otherwise she was risking pneumonia. He'd tried looking out of the window and focussing on the rush of life outside but found himself unable to draw his gaze away from his daughter for more than a few seconds, he eyes were constantly darting towards her to make sure she was still there, to check that she wasn't showing signs of stirring.

He held a cautious hope. His entire body contained a willingness to believe things will be all right now. He'd got his daughter back, but he knew he couldn't get too excited by that prospect. There were still huge obstacles to face, such as getting her top open up and confide in someone, even if that someone wasn't him. She still needed to talk. He had uttered several prayers, some of them becoming borderline pleas, to God. His faith, lost after the accident eight years ago, now renewed. Although he knew that anything could happen yet, he couldn't stop the light-hearted feeling in his chest from arising.

There was muffled snuffling sound from beneath the bed sheets and the small bundle inside them began to wriggle. He rushed to the bedside and began to run his hand through his daughter's hair in a comforting manner.

"Hush now, it's alright, you're safe…" His voice trembled slightly.

She was stirring now, her body slowly beginning to show the signs of a conscious life. He could tell she was aware of his presence as her body tensed slightly; his smile became hesitant as he remembered the doctor telling him of her reaction to the paramedic.

"Hush sweetheart, it's only me" He soothed gently, "It's your dad."

A jolt ran through his body and his hesitant smile became radiant as the delicate girls lips turned upwards forming a small smile at his words. He knew that his wide eyes were shining with tears as he watched her come round slowly. The cautious light-hearted feeling had been replaced with a sense of calm. She was waking up. Everything was going to be fine.

As her soft brown eyes flickered open a slow smile formed upon his face and he fell back into the caramel coloured cushioned chair at her beside and allowed relief to flood his system. She really was going to be okay. Her eyes took in the room before her gaze landed of him and she grinned. He let his own eyes look heavenward as he uttered a silent thank you to a higher power for giving him his daughter back. He let out a huge breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and struggled to find the right words to let his precious little girl know just how much she had scared him.

He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear gently stroking her pale face.

"I thought I'd lost you again." He whispered.

She shook her head and closed her eyes as tears began to cascade down her colourless cheeks. She reached out towards him and he wrapped his arms around her giving her the comfort she was desperately seeking. Her frail body was shaking as she leant her head against his chest. He rocked her slightly, soothing her.

"Hush sweetheart, it's okay now, everything's going to be alright."

She looked up at him with chestnut pools of emotion and sniffled before she managed to whisper a few shaky words.

"Promise?" she asked barely audible.

He nodded, a small smile on his face as he held his baby girl in his arms.

"I promise. I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

She smiled up at him before leaning her head back on his chest.

He wasn't sure exactly how long they sat there like that, there postures relaxed as they took comfort from the others presence. Their breathing became slow and easy, in time with the others. He couldn't stop grinning and he knew that if he were to look down there would be a small smile gracing her face. He let his eyes wander around them taking in the details he hadn't managed to notice before in his worked up state of mind. He knew that Nikki and Harry would be wondering where he was, he had rushed out without a word, he hadn't even phoned Janet. She would be frantic with worry if he didn't contact her soon but right now he had no desire to face anyone. He didn't want to have to spend time explaining the situation to others when he could be right here with his daughter. After eight years without her he had a lot of time to make up for.

He looked down at the angel in his arms. Her slack muscles allowed her limbs to hang loosely by her side. Her eyes were closed, a look of satisfaction on her calm features as she released a satisfied sigh.


	15. Thinking about you

_Hello!  
Chapter fifteen here, just one away from sixteen and the surprise for my lovely reviewers! In this chapter it's time for a little look in on Theresa, she'll be playing rather a large role in the next few chapters as we slowly start to unravel the truth... :D_

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you really are amazing people and you make me smile lots and lots!  
**Calliope, EmmaJ1996, Lizziginne, Strizzy and tigpop.**

_Disclaimer: I don't think I own silent witness although if I told you my lovely penguin says different would you believe me? :D_

_Please review! I've got a question for you all, where do you think Cassie's favourite holiday would have been?_

Enjoy,  
Much love x

**Chapter Fifteen**

She was sat on the bed, with its translucent pink overhanging canopy, in her daughter's room. It was a double but her only daughter had managed to fill it to the point of overflowing with soft fluffy pillows in various shapes and sizes and with her collection of stuffed toys. A collection which she had on numerous occasions suggested that the now sixteen year old teenager get rid of, but to her frustration the girl had always insisted on keeping them saying that they were a part of her childhood she wasn't ready to give up just yet.

Next to the bed was a small night stand containing a phone, a lamp with a leopard print shade, and an alarm clock that frequently offended her daughter by emitting a high pitched squeak announcing that it was time for the young teen to drag herself from the warmth of slumber and begin to prepare herself for another day in an educational institution, also known as Townley Grammar School.

A comfortable looking purple bean bag chair was in a corner cowering beneath the tell proud bookshelf which her daughter had stuffed with her favourite novels, apart from the bottom two shelves which contained her CD and DVD collection. She was proud to say that unlike most teenagers her daughter was an avid reader and refused to read anything that wasn't remotely challenging. She would review her latest book every morning over breakfast informing her mother of the highlights and the disappointments of her current literary obsession.

Across from the bed her daughter's closet door was ajar an avalanche of unwanted clothes peering around the edge. One thing the teenage girl loved to do more than anything else was shop, with the amount of her clothes in her closet she could open her own boutique. It wasn't like she ever wore half the clothes in there, most of them she simply bought for show, just items that her friends could admire whenever they came round. At the bottom of the large crowded closet was a shoe rack, although her daughter had far to many pairs of shoes to fit on it, so most of them were just carelessly slung into the bottom torn apart from their matching pair.

Against the same far wall that the closet door stood in, under the corkboard plastered with pictures, flyers and post-it-note reminders, was the desk her daughter had pleaded for during a trip to Ikea the previous June. It was a light maple, or maybe it was beech. She hadn't paid attention to the label nor to the price, she'd just bought it.

That was the one mistake she had made with her daughter. She had overindulged her, spoiled her even. As she had just the one child it was easy to fall into a pattern of buying her daughter everything she wanted without a second thought, she didn't have to worry about the cost, there were no other mouths to feed and her own job brought in more than enough money for the pair of them to be classed as well off. However, by giving in to her daughters every demand she'd created a young woman who expected the world to be handed to her on a silver platter.

The desk was now cluttered, paper strewn across it mingled with fuzzy topped pens and a few empty crisp packets that her daughter had devoured whilst revising. A series of note books and revision guides were stacked up like an oversized desk of playing cards, ready to topple over just like a straw house in the summer breeze. No doubt if she was to remove all the mess on her daughter's desk several cold glossy magazine covers would shine out, her daughter was lucky that academic intelligence came naturally to her, because she certainly struggled to keep her focus whilst revising. Balled up paper, no doubt rough drafts of previous assignments and essays had been tossed in to the purple waste paper bin beneath the desk crammed tightly next to the white stool not unlike those found in a school science department.

As her eyes flickered to the wall to her right in which a large window with a windows seat coated in an assortment of blankets and decorative red heart shaped cushions she was assaulted by an offensive shade of bubble gum pink.

Her daughters make up table.

There were pink feathers on her pink fairy lights that framed the mirror, and although the desk itself was a plain white colour it had been bombarded with masses of hair and beauty products most of which were in alarming shades of pink. Several bottles of nail varnish in various shades of red, pink, purple and blue were scattered across the smooth tabletop, the lids of some looking rather insecure. An overflowing mahogany box contained bracelets, earrings, rings and other jewelry. She had given her daughter the box for her thirteenth birthday, upon lifting the lid the tickling sound of music would fill the air and a small ornamental ballet daughter would begin to pirouette.

The source of the sickly sweet taste in the air sat on the table, a rose coloured bottle of perfume, which had been given to her by her best friend as a Christmas present. She had searched high and low all over London for it since, as she knew when her current bottle ran out her daughter would want more, but she couldn't find it anywhere.

A photograph in a silver frame caught her attention as well as the little book laying underneath it. Her daughter's diary. The diary had always interested her; every night for the past seven years her daughter had written what appeared to be a rather in-depth description of her thoughts and feelings. She had never peeked beneath the cover. She never would. She had that much respect for her daughter's privacy, but she couldn't deny that the thick pages and the swirling handwriting that expressed her daughter's every emotion didn't intrigue her.

One upon a time she'd been close to her daughter, they'd shared secrets and giggles. That was whilst they were under police protection, they had of course been close before, but Cassie was always her fathers daughter. Daddy's little princess. It took her being ripped away from her father for her eyes to really open and for her to remember she had two parents. Two people that loved her.

Once they'd come out of protection she'd told Cassie they needed time to readjust to a normal life before they contacted her father. However she had exterior motives for not wanting to contact him, even before the accident it hadn't been easy between her and Leo. He was constantly working, leaving the house before she was up and returning late at night, often after she'd retired to bed. Still, there daughter craved his attention and his every second in the house was spent with her. There was no time for them anymore. No time for them to talk, no time for them to be intimate with one another, with Leo it was either work or Cassie, never her.

She couldn't go back to that life.

If she was honest with herself, there was another reason. She'd secretly hoped that if they didn't return to Leo then their daughter would remain close to her, she and her daughter would keep the best friend like relationship they had. She didn't want to have to return to her lonely position. She didn't want to have to the odd one out, the one left at home whilst Leo and Cassie went of father-daughter adventures.

Cassie had been fine at first; she had almost grown used to the fact that her father wasn't around. She would wake up and go to school before returning home with her arms full of stories that she would rapidly babble in her mothers direction before the two of them would head off into town and go shopping, or just sit and a quite back street café and talk over a refreshing hot drink and a pastry.

Then as she'd settled into school life Cassie became more independent. She didn't want to spend time with her mother; she wanted to be out with her friends. Cassie sought after the freedom to go wherever she wanted and often she found herself having to reel the carefree child in before her empty-headed actions resulting in someone getting injured.

Then the never-ending onslaught of questions had started. All her friends had fathers, why didn't she? What had happened to her father? Did he not want to see her? Had she been a bad child? Was there a reason her father never contact her?

Theresa had never been able to answer any of her daughter's questions.

What was she supposed to say? She couldn't lie to her daughter, but she could hardly tell her the truth either. The truth would hurt her. The truth would have irreparably damaged their relationship.

How was she supposed to tell a pre-teen child that her father was no longer around because her mother was jealous of the relationship between the man and his only daughter?

She couldn't, and so she'd simply avoided the questions and then eventually, almost as suddenly as they had started, the questions stopped. The matter was forgotten.

Well, she thought it had. Her daughters Internet history had shown otherwise. Theresa hadn't meant to pry, but she'd placed timing restrictions on the Internet and blocks on certain websites. There were certain things she didn't want her daughter becoming involved in, and certain things that she needed protecting from. She'd simply been monitoring her daughter's usage of the Internet as far as she knew most parents did it these days. She'd been shocked though to find that her daughter had found the website of a university in London, a site which had redirected her to information about the Thomas Lyell Centre. The workplace of her father. She hadn't known what to do and so she had denied her current problem existed. She'd checked several times afterwards but her daughter never visited the site again.

Until a few days ago she hadn't been worried, but then Cassie had gotten home from school late, the same day Steven had lashed out at the two of them, the same day she'd screamed at him that he couldn't tell her what to do, because he wasn't her father.

She'd claimed she'd been in town with her friends, but her friends had phoned the house that afternoon asking if Cassie could sleep over. She'd told them that she wasn't in.

So when Cassie returned claiming to have been out shopping for a prom dress with friends she knew she was lying.

Then she'd phoned the business card with his number on.

Then she'd realised.

Cassie had been to see her father.


	16. Who can you turn to?

_Hey! :D_

Here it is! Chapter Sixteen... and the surprise... (hopefully you won't miss it!)

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers, you're amazing, and special and wonderful!  
**Lizziginne, Strizzy, EmmaJ1996, Calliope and tigpop**

_I had this all written and ready to post yesterday but I tripped and through a door and down soem stairs effectively knocking myself unconcious. :S I've written up to chapter twenty and I've planned out the rest of the story - I visited the cemetry today, in particular my nan, grandad and auntie's grave and I was looking around and it helped me find a sense of love, faith and belonging that I want to convey to you all in the last few chapters of this fic. I can only hope that I manage it. _

_Please review and make me smile, If I get reviews I write faster, and if I'm sat here writing I'm not walking around and falling over things, if I'm not doing that then I can't knock myself out... please help keep me safe... please review... :D :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own silent witness, but I do own some fantastic smelling (and tasting) raspberry & blackberry flavoured lip balm... it's gorgeous!_

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

**Chapter Sixteen**

She had come out here to think.

Her daughters bedroom so pink and energetic had began to suffocate her, it was full of life teasing and taunting her until she could take no more.

Speedily she'd locked up her house and clambered into her Mercedes SLK-Class. Her daughter simply adored the fact her mother could drive her places without ruining her reputation, she loved the gasps and the attention she got as she emerged from her mothers car. It was one of the perks of having a high paid job, even if she did just sit in an office all day, she got to have a flashy car, a large house and the ability to spoil her daughter as and when she wanted.

It was a self-indulgent purchase, however it was one of very few. Spending most of her time locked inside an office albeit a very modern comfortable office meant that she never got the time to relax and indulge herself in anything. She was supposed to have the weekends off but as her position at the university increased she found herself devoting more and more time to the place.

She had started out as a lecturer of sociology before going on to teach politics as well. She was admired and respected amongst her work peers and this high status had earned her plenty of recognition for her work – although if some had told her several years ago - before all the promotions - that she would end up spending her life alone in an office she would have laughed.

The roar of the 3.0 litre engine had she pressed down on the accelerator had thrilled her the first time she had driven the car, now although the pleasure was still there, it had greatly diminished. So what if she had a car that could go from 0-60 mph in a time of around 6.3 seconds? It didn't matter at all, all the car did was attract attention, unwanted attention, from guys like Steven.

Guys like Steven who was absolutely gorgeous with stubble on their chins and rugged looking features that made her insides melt. Muscular guys that flaunted their abs, that spent every last minute in the gym working out. They were the kind of guys that would shower her in love and affection, as well as expensive gifts, the kind of guys that would show her a good time, the ones she could relax around. The type of guys that would get bored after a few weeks and just disappear, or like Steven, the type of guys who got aggressive and violent.

She had always been careful to keep her latest boyfriend, or fling, away from her daughter. She didn't need to stress or worry about her mother's relationships. She needed to focus on herself, and most importantly her GCSE's, which were coming up at the end of the month.

Thoughts like these plagued her until she reached her destination. She hadn't known where she was going at first but then as she'd hit an instantly recognisable stretch of forest she'd known. She was heading towards the one place where she instantly felt at home. The one place she would be able to sit and think undisturbed without the police or the nosy old woman next door poking their unwelcome noses in and questioning her.

The drive had taken about an hour and a half and as she pulled into a parking space the car park surrounding her was practically deserted. She grabbed a carrier bag from the boot of her car containing two blankets; one was red with flowers embodied around the edge, and the other plain, royal blue in colour and incredibly fluffy.

She made her way along one of the many trails leading down through the dense forest, she figured the walk would take her roughly ten minutes alone at her current speed, plenty of time for her to soak in the scenery and calm down. She wanted to be able to think, and she couldn't do that in her current state with an angry frustrated haze clouding her judgement brought on by the thoughts of Steven, and what he'd done to her and her daughter.

Theresa leaned forward on the blanket and curled her arms around her knees. The air was cool here and she was glad she'd remembered to pick of a jumper as she'd fled the house. The thick jumper massaged warmth into her back and she closed her eyes, letting go of all the stress that had built up over the past week— her and Steven arguing, a yelling boss, her daughter contacting the man she'd tried so hard to hide her from, reports piling up on her desk, her daughter missing, the long since past deadlines. Instead she filled herself with the smell of the fresh air, the sound of the water gently slapping against the shore and feathery slide of the wind rippling lightly through her hair.

She opened her eyes to moonlight flickering against the water like a candle left alone in a timid breeze. She pulled herself to her feet and slowly made her way towards the rocky shoreline trying her hardest to stick to the flat smooth pebbles, she shivered in the shallows as the cold radiated up through her feet. Remembering the days when she and Cassie would visit this very lake and watch lairy jump in and amuse themselves splashing each other with the icy water, filling the air with delighted shrieks. She wrapped her arms around herself, letting the memories fill her up to the point of overflowing.

Together they'd travel down the gravel path that weaved in and out of the trees, the parents huddled together struggling with all the bags whilst the girls competed against each other for the first glimpse of the vast blue body of water that lapped against the shore like a thirsty puppy on a hot summers day. The ducks and geese would waddle around, plucking grass from the lush slope and swimming in the reeds, playing hide and seek with the young child eager to catch and hold the 'birdies'. Seagulls searching for garbage left behind on the beach swooped along the sky watching the land beneath them hawk-eyed and ready to dive. There were bees and dragonflies that hovered above the water, they had fascinated Cassie and at one point one of the other mothers had made a joke about her daughter being a budding future etymologist. She had sat with the other parents at the picnic tables whilst the girls paddled at the edge of the lake whooping ecstatically as the patterned 'whump, whump, whump' signalled another speedboat hurtled across the centre of the lake.

Cassie had broken friends with most of those little girls several years later, once they had started secondary school, claiming that they were either stupidly superficial or shallow or that they were just plain weird. There were a select few that she still hung around with, and the bond between them had blossomed to form an unbreakable tie between them. They had been through a lot together and although they had silly arguments over practically nothing they were the sort of best friends that were usually only found in fairytales.

Suddenly Theresa was reminded of the four girls stood in the picture with Cassie, that picture that took pride of place on Cassie's bedroom wall.

Amy had been born in Scotland before moving down to London a few years ago; she had instantly been a hit with the girls and was admitted into their little friendship ground immediately. She was the eldest of the group, although Theresa often wondered how the girl was going to manage when she left college in a few years time, as she seemed adamant that she would forever remain a teenager. Amy was the only one that was ever missing from sleepovers, usually due to the fact she had some swimming competition. Theresa had been dragged along to one of the contests and until that day hadn't realised just how good Amy was, Cassie had made a joke about her never having to worry about any of them drowning, because Amy could swim and save them. Amy was the oldest of three children, a sister four years younger than herself and a brother six years her junior. They were the main reason why the girls chose not to go around to Amy's house after school; they wouldn't be able to talk in private. Though Theresa always thought it was a bit of a lame excuse seeing as even when they were alone at her house they spoke in hushed whispers so no one could overhear them. It hinted at slight paranoia, and maybe she should be worried about what they were discussing.

The next girl was the only girl to have stayed friends with Cassie ever since nursery, the two seemed to have formed a special bond that none of the other girls in their group could decipher, never mind Theresa. Calliope was blonde with sparkling blue eyes; the life in those eyes always scared Theresa a bit. There was something about her that made her feel the girl was not quite there with them, even if she was in the same room. Cassie had often described her as a dreamer, and Theresa had always told people who asked about her daughter's friends that Calliope was the one who preferred to sit back and let others enjoy themselves whilst she watched. She didn't seem to like being in the limelight. The school however would disagree with her as the teenager was often pulled out of lessons and brought before the head. She was honest to the point where she was blunt, and bluntness can hit people like a freshly sharpened knife, so her comments were not always appreciated. Though Theresa had never known her say anything unacceptable, just whatever was in the young girls mind at the time.

The other two girls on the picture had chosen to follow there own paths next year and were breaking away from the groups to travel to separate colleges. Theresa could only pray that the friendship between them was strong enough to handle the strain that distance would no doubt put on it as she liked the two girls, in fact she had almost motherly feelings towards all of Cassie's best friends.

Lizzi was the youngest in the group with flame coloured hair that Theresa simply adored. Her eyes were a startling swirling mix of blue and green that reminded her of the ocean. She was one of the taller members of the group being 5Ft 7" although Cassie made everyone looked tall as she stood at a measly 5ft 2". At sixteen she was remarkably sure of herself and her future, and would probably get on incredibly well with Leo, as she was an aspiring future pathologist. A quiet girl during classes and around other people the girl had take Theresa by surprise when she'd first visited, she became a loud constant talker when she felt comfortable and was surrounded by her friends. Lizzi would often disappear for numerous weeks during the holiday periods to go skiing with her family. Theresa had always wanted to create that sort of family, but to live up to the idealistic dream in her mind, she needed a father figure for Cassie, and that was one thing she just couldn't find.

The final girl in the photo was brunette with deep green eyes that gave away her every emotion. Emma was a bubbly girl and no matter where she was, when she walked into a room she brought a feeling of being alive and a bright light that illuminated everybody in there. In was in her nature to be very chatty and although right now she seemed unsure of what she wanted as her career, Theresa knew it would involve people. Emma was a caring person, but she knew how to deal with people and their moods.

The five of them were like sisters to Cassie, no matter what they could rely on each other. Cassie, living in the biggest house, was often the host of sleepovers and if the weather was bad and they couldn't escape into town for a day of retail therapy they would all lounge around her house, she'd grown used to walking in to the six girls having a whispered conversation on her living room floor. In fact, so used to it was she that she often subconsciously cooked meals large enough for herself, Cassie and the five girls, even on the rare occasions when the five girls weren't present.

At the last sleep over she had been bringing up hot chocolate and ice cream for the girls to enjoy whilst they watched some chick-flick on the DVD player in Cassie's bedroom when she'd overheard them making a vow. Friends for life they'd said. They'd promised to always protect each other, to stand by one another and then they'd promised that they would be each other's bridesmaids and the godmothers of each other's children. Whist had of course resulted in them breaking down into hysterical uncontrollable giggles.

Theresa hadn't forgotten that conversation, even if she hadn't been meant to hear it.

Would Cassie friends be there for her when she no longer could be?


	17. We need to talk

_Hello!  
Sorry this wasn't up yesterday but I went back to school today and it's been a nightmare! I officially only have eight weeks left until my exams start! :S I know I've already taken my maths, english and science but I've opted to resit them just to see if I can do any better!  
Now I'm back at school I won't be able to update as often, sorry!_

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I can't list you all right now as I'm sneaking on here as it is (I'm mid revision session - I've got a chemistry exam on Wednesday). I promise I'll list you all next time._

_Here's some of Janet's POV, I love Janet, I think she's perfect for Leo._

_Read & Review - If you review I promise I'll update again tomorrow! (Okay, I feel bad for saying that now...)_

Enjoy,  
Much love x

Chapter Seventeen

She hadn't spent all that hard work getting a masters degree in psychology for nothing. She'd had to devote her time solely to her studies; at university she was by far one of the least sociable people there. She'd spent her days in lectures or at the library researching and revising and her nights were spent laboriously pouring over one of the enormous textbooks she had been given by her tutor. It had taken its toll on her health; she'd suffered from stress and anxiety and nothing she had taken helped. Her doctor had simply said that she needed to loosen up a little and have some fun.

'Fun' wasn't a word she was familiar with. She was the first in her family to attend university, she was desperate to make her mother and father proud, they'd gone as far as selling their large country house and downsizing to a cramped bungalow in a bid to be able to help her pay her tuition fees. She'd be forever indebted to them and would never fully be able to show her enormous gratitude but she was definitely going to repay them.

So she had to be studious, and no doubt that force her to come across as being cold hearted and bitter, but one day she would pay them back.

However before she could her mother had died. It had been one warm September evening and Janet had been with them. She'd cooked her mother and father dinner and chatted lightly, catching up on all the family gossip. Her mother was going on about how her sister, Janet's aunt, was a grandmother for the third time constantly hinting about her own wish to have grandchildren. Then she'd collapsed, and her father had gone into a state of shock, and then panic. Janet had fled down the corridor and grabbed the phone from its charger and dialled for an ambulance. She'd knelt at her mother's side and tried to make her as comfortable as possible whilst they waited. By the time the ambulance had got there, it was too late.

After that she'd thrown herself into her work. She told herself that if she worked hard enough than one day she'd have enough money to buy a big country house to live in with her father, and then when she found a suitable man to marry, they could have lots of children running around in the vast space. Her mother would have all the grandchildren she could have ever possibly wanted.

She had never met the right man though.

She'd told herself that she'd be alone forever. She'd be the daughter who let her own family down. She'd fail her mother, and herself.

Then she'd met Leo.

He was different from the other guys she'd met; maybe it was because he understood the kinds of things that her work opened her eyes too. Then again maybe it was just the way he always such a gentleman, and so traditional. He didn't want to meet up at a pub, get ridiculously drunk and stumble back to either his or her place and jump straight into bed with her. He took her out on dates, sometimes to restaurants, other times it would be for a stroll or a picnic in some park she had never seen before.

Leo was a closet romantic, or so she had discovered after several bunches of red roses with endearing messages scribbled inside little cards buried underneath the flower heads.

They'd taken things slow. She was scared that things wouldn't work out particularly as she was sure she was slowly falling in love with the pathologist. Leo however had his own different reasons for wanting to take things slow, after loosing both his wife and young daughter in a tragic accident he was stumbling through the relationship full of fear that he was being unfaithful to his wife and daughter's memory.

Everything had changed now though. Neither Cassie nor Theresa was dead. Cassie had visited him at work just a few days ago, filling her father in on how she'd been kept in police protection with her mother, and then how, when they'd finally been released, her mother refused to let them contact him.

Then the same day, she went missing, and now all of Leo's time was being taken up by him desperately trying to work out where she could be. What little bit of work he had actually done was lackadaisical and she knew that Harry and Nikki had both double-checked his PM's and reports.

She liked to think of herself as a warm and considerate person. She knew that her love and kindness had come at just the right time, and that Leo managed to find great strength from it, strength he needed to come to terms with the death of his wife and daughter, but now they weren't dead. Would Leo still need her? Would he still want her? She knew she was being stupid and illogical, he had said only the night before that Theresa didn't want him anymore, she didn't even want the man around her daughter for goodness sake! What on earth was possessing her to think like this? She had nothing to be afraid of. Did she?

What about Cassie?

Would Leo have time to get to know his daughter and still maintain a relationship with her, his girlfriend? Would Cassie accept her as being a part of her father's life or would she try to force the pair of them apart? If Leo, after eight years, could not accept her death then Cassie clearly meant a great deal to him. She laughed at herself, of course she meant a lot to him, she's his daughter!

Where was Leo anyway? She drew her attention to the large window, the long cream curtains framing it, the darkness outside pouring in. Recently he had been staying at work till an unlawful hour when he'd open the door and make his way into the room as quietly as possible. Each time the look on his face when he saw her sat up waiting for his return, made her wonder. Was he trying to avoid her? She knew he was in a difficult situation, she knew he was worried about Cassie, but had he already made up his mind on what he wanted? Was he just putting things off? Had he already decided he didn't want her?

The phone rang, the shrill sound cut through the atmosphere like a butchers knife startling her. She rushed down the hall to answer it, maybe it was Leo.

"Hello?" Did her voice sound a raspy and weak as she'd heard it?

"I haven't woken you up have I?" It was Leo.

"No, no, I was just watching TV", she sighed, "Where are you?"

"The hospital" The barricades had opened and the relief was flooding through, "They found her."

I couldn't help but smile, Leo obvious cared for the girl. "She's alright?"

"Yeah, they're going to keep her in tonight and probably tomorrow night as well." There was something else.

"Leo, what are you not telling me?" I sighed, he obviously forget what I did in my line of work, I could read him like an open book.

He sighed, "They can't get hold of her mother"

Her mother. He'd referred to the woman technically still his wife as 'her mother' rather than Theresa. She didn't know why this made her feel more hopeful, but it did. Suddenly the darkness outside was illuminated by a bright full moon, which bathed the street in a soft white glow.

"Theresa? Why not?"

"I don't know… she had an appointment here the other day" He sighed again, clearly worried, "Neighbour said she was home earlier, but drove off early this evening."

"She's not answering her phone then?" She asked. Didn't the woman want her daughter? Was that why Leo was so concerned?

"No", She could see him shaking his head down the phone. "Look, we need to talk later, I may have asked Cassie something without your permission. I'll speak to you when I get home, alright?"

"Okay." She was reluctant to push things with him, if she did and they ended up arguing he was unlikely to return home that night, and she missed him. She needed her Leo, even if it was just for a few hours.

"See you in half an hour then. I love you." He said.

"I love you too." Then he hung up.

What had he asked his daughter? What could he have possibly asked that required her to give her consent?


	18. Making decisions

_Hello! I'm still alive! I'm really really sorry, I know I seemingly vanished off the face of the earth but I have a really really really good reason for not updating recently... school. I offically start my GCSE exams in seven weeks time and all I've had all week is coursework assignments, revision and a chemistry exam that I know I've failed. My classes entire evidence work for drama has gone missing, we changed teacher this year because our old one left and all the video evidence she had for us has gone! :S So we all look like failing the course and are madly rushing to re-do it all! _

_I've written up the chapter ninteen and I'm half done chapters twenty and twenty one, I'm struggling to write a letter from Theresa to Cassie in chapter twenty, how do you think Theresa sees/reacts to her daughter?, and I can't finish twenty one without doing the letter._

_I promise you all I will take Sunday off and write lots of fanfiction so I can update more often! I'm thinking there will be about 30 chapters for this story... :) and then I've done a few little one shots based in my little Cassie universe... :D_

Anyway, thank you to all my lovely reviews, I'm glad you all like Janet, I love her lots so there will definitely be more of her, and thank you to **Calliope **for the review asking for an update, I got a notifcation through email and felt really guilty for leaving you all hanging and I've come on here and uploaded the next chapter straight away... so this chapters for her because she's pushed me into updating... (Thank you!)

_Please review, I know write now I don't deserve it because I'm a horrible person for not updating sooner, but I would really love you all if you could answer the question I wrote somewhere I the mass of words above!_

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

Chapter Eighteen

Once she'd arrived home she'd gone straight up to the bathroom checking her mobile for the first time in days as she went. Seven missed calls from the nosy old bat next door who'd she'd given her number to out of sympathy during her first winter here just in case she needed anything. Twenty-two missed calls from a number she didn't recognise. Who wanted to speak to her that badly? Was it about Cassie?

She'd deal with it later; right now she needed a shower.

As she opened the bathroom door she was hit by the overpowering smell of her daughters perfume and the bitter taste of hairspray.

Her bathroom was very stylishly done and had been designed by herself and Cassie for maximum ease when they were both getting ready in a morning. The mirror sat above the sink on the right hand side of the toilet, which stood in the corner. The mirror was fairly low when she considered the ones in her friends bathrooms, but seeing as her daughter was only 5ft 2" it made sense to have it lower, although there were days when Theresa regretted that decision and had to pry her daughter's face away from her reflection. As she stared at herself she could see the mascara smudges and fingerprints on the glass and tried to work out how long it had been since she'd given the house a good clean. She decided that it was a job she would battle tomorrow; she wasn't going to go into work on a Saturday. What as the point? She would be going into work at all soon. In fact, she wouldn't be going anywhere.

There was a large spacious bathtub and a freestanding shower. Theresa was spoilt for choice but decided on a shower perhaps the sluice of water beating on her back would relax her enough for her to get a good nights sleep.

She stood on the cream fluffy rug in the centre of her bathroom and checked that there were towels on the chrome towel bar before turning the extractor fan on, shedding her clothes and stepping into the shower. Inside the shower the hot water felt good as it massaged her tense muscles. Theresa was surrounded by bottles, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and bubble bath, most of which would never get used by neither herself nor her daughter. Bath items were popular gifts for the pair of them on birthdays and at Christmas; it was well known throughout their friends that the two girls loved to pamper themselves whenever they had the time.

She washed her hair, allowed the smell of the strawberry shampoo and conditioner to over whelm her senses. She stood under the water longer than necessary, turning the temperature up until it scalded her skin fully awakening her once more.

Then she turned off the shower and opened the door but stopped short of grabbing the soft red towel. It was fluffy and perfectly hung, a line of lace fluttering along its hem. She stepped out of the shower fully feeling the ice-cold tiles beneath her feet, and then pivoted, looking for something else. The wall shelves held doilies and potpourri, dried flowers, seashell-shaped soaps. A candle that when lit would flicker with a vanilla-scented draft. A dimpled cherub smiled down on at her from the top shelf. She shuddered. When had had gotten so...domestic? When had she stopped being the carefree woman she remembered herself as being?

She wrapped the towel around herself delicately and went and stood in front of the mirror again, she swiped the cool mist from the glass feeling the fresh dampness under her skin. She stared at her reflection, at her eyes dull and lifeless with big black and purple bruises underneath. Her skin was sallow and gaunt. Cassie would know she was ill, she'd recognise the signs instantly. Theresa couldn't put her daughter through that, she'd worry and stress, and then when thing's finally became all too much for Theresa she'd have to watch her break down. No. She couldn't put her daughter through all that.

The doctor's words had rung clearly in her ears ever since that day at the hospital.

_The doctor seemed to have noted her worried expression and her eyes changed, expressing the comfort Theresa needed as well as sympathy. Why sympathy?_

"_Oh God…" She whispered, her voice was hoarse as the words got caught in her throat._

_The doctor reached over and placed her tanned hand over Theresa's pale one._

"_I'm sorry Mrs Dalton, I'm afraid I don't bare good news…"_

"_How long have I got?" She asked._

"_My estimate? A few months at the most, it could be a few weeks. I'm sorry but at this stage there is nothing we can do to help you, other than to make you feel as comfortable as possible when things get worse." The doctor had looked at her with eyes full of pity._

_She didn't want anyone's pity._

"_If you'd like we can set you up with a councillor, someone to help you come to terms with this, or maybe even to help your daughter… when the end comes." The doctor was trying to be helpful._

"_No… thank you. I'm sorry but I need some time to think about all of this before I go making any decisions." She's smiled at the doctor and then left the room._

_She'd held her tears back all the way home and the finally once she'd opened the door she broke down. She'd collapsed to the floor, her legs no longer strong enough to hold her weighted shoulders up. In the space of a few hours everything had come crashing down, now whether they found Cassie or not she was going to loose her for good. _

_Her daughter was going to be left to raise herself, or to find her father and hope that he still wanted to be a part of her life. No doubt he would, but Theresa still disliked the idea. She felt envious of the close relationship they would form. It was a relationship she'd always craved with her daughter but had never been able to establish. _

She pulled herself back to reality and cursed inwardly as she felt the hot tears flooding her eyes, rolling down her cheeks. She tried to control herself but found she couldn't. Her emotions ruled her body once more and she fell to the ground with a loud thud before breaking down into body racking sobs that echoed around the enclosed space.

"Oh Cassie" She whispered over and over again knowing what she had to do. She had to let go of her daughter, her little girl. She had to start her on her way into a new life, where she would hopefully grow up to make the most of her talents, she'd have a successful career and a family of her own to take care of.

Her mother would be proud of her, although Cassie may not be proud of her mother.

Not after what she had to do.


	19. Saying goodbye

_Hey, as a way of apologising for the lack of updates, here's a second chapter for today..._

_Thank you to lizziginne, Calliope and tigpop for the reviews, you are amazing people._

_Please read & review this - I have two questions for you: what is Janets favourite food? & what was the last date Leo took Janet on?_

_Enjoy,_

_Much love x_

Chapter Nineteen

She could smell bleach as she stepped through the door mingled amongst the pine scented cleaning fluids and the bitter sting of antiseptic. There was a metallic tang from the stainless steel in the open air; similar to the pungent rusty smell she associated with blood. Like mist, sweat hung from the ceiling, perfume/cologne clung to it like a terrified child to its mother. The scent of get-well flowers wafted from the small gift shop in the entrance.

She had no idea what to do now she had arrived at the hospital; her heart was pounding, full of fear and dread. How was she supposed to approach this? Did she just march up the reception, demand to see her daughter, and get it over and done with? Should she sit with Cassie a while, spend some final quality time with her daughter before she left for good? She didn't know. A wave of nausea hit her and she wondered how she'd managed to stay on her feet. She felt dizzy, the world around her blurred, spinning round and round.

She managed to find herself a vending machine and slid in a few coins before punching in the numbers. She should have eaten this morning. Her doctor had warned her that if she took the astringent pills without food then there would be side affects. She supposed she should stop talking them, they weren't doing any good for her anymore, and they were just making her feel sick and repulsive.

There were a variety of snack foods in the vending machines ranging from granola bars to sugary candy bars. She bought herself a bar of Cadburys chocolate deciding that she needed something sweet and managed to get herself a machine-made cup of burnt coffee, she sighed as the hot liquid scalded her throat, it managed to bring a little more strength to her tired aching muscles.

This was it. It was now or never.

She made her way back to the main entrance and to the reception desk. It was a long beech desk, everything sat upon it looked very organized although it was impossible to decipher exactly how it was ordered. The dark haired woman looked up at her with questioning pistachio green eyes.

"Can I help you?" Her tone was friendly and welcoming but it sounded forced, like she'd been trained to speak that way, which thinking about it Theresa supposed she had.

The automatic doors behind her were sliding open and shut, from the waiting room she could hear screams, cries and moans of pain and people talking in low voices whilst the intercom shouted out codes and directions to the staff. As she listened the squeak of a wheelchair on the highly polished floor she was aware of her daughter's name brushing over her lips. Before the clack of long fingers on a keyboard pushing its way through the other sounds that filled the room. She watched the moving mouth of the receptionist the screech of an ambulance siren drowned out her words.

"Are you related to her?"

She nodded quickly, "I'm her mother."

A small hole formed between the woman's lips as she whipped around pulling the phone receiver to her ear and dialling a number with her elegant fingers, her manicured nails tapping against the plastic buttons.

She zoned out, not bothering to pay attention to the woman's conversation with whomever, she had clearly been shocked to see Theresa, did they think she wouldn't come at all? It was her daughter in the hospital bed for goodness sake! Of course she was going to come! She'd just needed time to sort herself out first. It was only a few days ago that a doctor in this very building had given her life-changing news! Did they expect her just to forget all about it the moment her daughter was found? Her reappearance had only thrown up more questions. More questions that needed answering, and quickly.

She focused her mind on the sound of newspapers and magazines in the waiting room across from her, the sound of thumb to paper as the pages were flicked over. There were phones squealing in every direction along with calls for assistance and doctors giving orders to nurses and support staff. The rattling breath of an old man echoed around the room a prominent sound over the wheezing, coughing and sneezing from several other waiting patients. Patients, which looked like they belonged in the waiting room of their GP rather than a hospital. Surely they weren't going to waste the time of doctors who could be treated serious injuries with something as trivial as a common cold? The ping of an elevator reaching the ground floor brought her out of her reverie and back into the cold harsh light of reality.

The woman was just hanging up the phone and it wasn't long before she'd turned to face Theresa once again.

"A doctor will be down in a few moments to speak to you." She spoke briskly, as though someone on the other end of the phone had told her something about Theresa that hadn't impressed her.

"Okay. Thank you." Theresa echoed the tone back to her.

She diverted her attention to a boldly coloured wall behind her that was littered with posters and leaflets with warnings about various diseases and information about various help schemes for patients and relatives.

It took all of five minutes for a doctor dresses in teal scrubs that make his way out of the lift and over to her. She smiled at him as he held out his hand.

After shaking hands the doctor lead her to a small room with two comfortable looking russet coloured leather sofas, in the middle of the room was a small glass coffee table currently bare, and behind the sofa against the far wall was a red plastic box full of children's toys. A multicoloured clown gazed at her, its haunting eyes piercing her skin. She stared back.

One they were both seated the doctor began to explain several things to her. What was wrong with her daughter, how her daughter had been treated and what was going to happen next.

She listened patiently before asking to see her little girl; the doctor agreed and led her from the room.

As she travelled through the cloned corridors she could see patients leading against the metal bed rails as they spoke to concerned friends and family, or huddled underneath the cream crisp sheets, some of them clutching the smooth plastic emergency remote. To take her mind off her current predicament she imagined their pain, the deep burning pain that probed at their bodies. She imagined the prick of a needle as a nurse administered more pain relief. The nervous feeling had kicked in again and she felt sweat dripping down the neck as her hair fell across her face.

She focused on the doctor's fingers probing the sight of an injury in one room, and the nurse applying bandages to a wound on the arm of a young girl in another. She remembered the pain she'd felt as a little girl when a bandage around her thigh had been removed being removed, the searing pain as the doctor had ripped it from her skin.

There were support staff holding a drink straw to the lips of a patient with dry, cracked lips, she imagined the feel of the liquid coolness as it oozed down the mans throat. The relief he would feel as his thirst was quenched.

All too soon she found herself looking into a room with a man hunched over the bed speaking softly to a young girl. Her daughter, who was tucked up tightly under the soft bed covers, her head tilted slightly to the left, towards the window. Her eyes were closed and Theresa could see the steady movement of her daughter's chest. She was asleep.

That made things a little more difficult, now she was here she knew that if she sat by her daughter's bedside for longer than it would take to make sure she was okay, and to tell her goodbye, she would never leave. She couldn't sit there and wait for her to awaken, but if she just left now she wouldn't return. There was no way she'd be able to hype herself up the way she had done as she'd followed the doctor along the sparkling white corridors.

She felt at the pocket in her royal blue waist length coat and at the envelope inside it. Could a letter really tell her daughter everything? It would make it easier for her as she wouldn't have to answer any of Cassie's questions or have to try and avoid her daughter's pleading gaze.

It would have to do. There was no other option for her take into consideration.

She knocked on the door, and as she pushed it open the man turned around, his features forming a shocked expression. She held out the letter for him to take, and managed to whisper out an instruction though her throat and mouth were dry.

"Give it to her, please. Tell her I'm sorry. So sorry."

Then she was gone.


	20. Waking up to letters and broken hearts

_Hello beautifuls!_

_Here's another update! I may put chapter twenty-one up later but I'm not sure I like it... there's a bit of Janet and she's not Janet-y enough for me... thank you to all the beautiful reviews - you are amazing!_

_I've craving custard and grapes today, it's rather worrying! Haha! Please review - otherwise I'll eat all the grapes & custard I can find and be too fat to fit on my computer chair and then I won't be able to write more fanfiction!_

_Oh and, the rating of this will be higher again just because I want to be careful, I'm going to be dealing with some issues hinted at in this chapter, I have past experiance with these issue in real life and I know that I find them distressing enough, and other people may not wish to read the chapter(s) in which these issues will be graphically discribed. _

_Enjoy,_

_Much love x_

Chapter Twenty

Slowly the kids of her eyes begin to flicker progressing to a squint before her eyes shut trying to ward off the filtered sunlight drifting in from the large window. The inevitable dread of opening them to the sudden glare of an empty room flirts with the anticipation she's currently feeling. Will he still be there? She opens only one eye quickly feeling the burn of her shocked retinas, before slamming it shut again. It's too bright, the incandescent sun sneaking through the window makes her head spin and she groans as a wave of nausea forces her to open both eyes and rapidly sit up.

Somewhere to the side of her a machine emitted a constant annoying beep as it monitored her heart rate. The only positive, Cassie could think of, about the presence of this machine was that it indeed confirmed her first observation. She was still alive. Her body was immersed in the heat of a thundering pain that was charged through her veins at every heartbeat.

She still felt rather drowsy and her whole body was calling at her to lie back down on the soft comfortable mattress and allow her head to melt into the fluffy pillows. Most of all though, her body wanted to sink back into the pleasant deep sleep she had been in before. Then she could go back to the idealistic dream world where everything as perfect, the accident had never existed, her mother and father were still together, and they were a happy normal family. If only thing's would work like that in real life! .

Antiseptic stung her throat and she could smell the bleach used to clean to corridors outside her door. She tested her limbs, lifting one arm up slightly and wriggling her toes to make sure she was still in control of her own body. Her sore throat was gradually getting worse and her mouth was day. She needed a drink, but the water had been moved to a table of the far side of the room where she couldn't reach it.

She wished she had powers like Matilda. She loved that film, as a child she'd watched it almost every week, her parents gritting their teeth and putting up with it, simply because it made their little girl happy. She'd been able to quote parts of the film off my heart and new almost everything there was to know about each character. She wanted to be able to stare at the jug of water and it float gracefully towards her.

She just needed a drink.

She thought about pressing the emergency call button on the smooth plastic remote beside her, she ran her fingers across the chipper rubber buttons; the writing upon them was faded like a weathered photograph. She thought about all the other patients who had used this remote, some who were there because of injuries, like herself, and someone who were seriously ill. Some who walked out of the hospital a few days or weeks later, some who never left, becoming a distant memory, fading like little numbers on upon the rubber.

She looked towards the door and saw a man standing; a small crack in the door and a hushed whispering alerted her to the fact that there was someone else at the door. She strained to hear the rush of words cascading from the lips of the unknown visitor but she could make nothing, the only thing this confirmed was that it was a female, with a soft voice immersed in emotion.

Could it be her mother?

She sunk back underneath the bed covers so as not to alert them to her conscious state. She was wide awake now, her mind fully attentive hoping to pick up scraps of information that could possibly explain the rushed conversation happening at the other side of the room.

The atmosphere hanging like low cloud over the room told her that the two figures were not whispered out of consideration for her. They were not worried about waking her up. Instead they were secretive, muffled, as if there was something she was been kept in the dark about. Cassie felt a surge of disdain run through her body almost making her shiver slightly as she once again strained to hear the conversation – this time getting lucky.

The man, whose voice she instantly recognised as her fathers, was infuriated. His tone suggested that he was forcing himself to remain calm, even though he clearly disapproved of whatever the women was saying.

"Speak to her at least Theresa."

Her mother? He was talking to her mother? Why wasn't she sat at her besides waiting for her to awaken? Thousands of questions swarmed her mind like angry bees. What were they hiding from her?

Her mother had never hidden anything from her, at least not that she knew of. They told each other everything; it was the number one rule in their household. No secrets. What was so important that her mother could tell her? Did she think that her own daughter would judge her? Had she done something she regretted? Surely that wouldn't stop her from informing her daughter, they'd spoken about mistakes they'd both made before, neither he mother nor herself has ever hesitated before confiding in the other their deepest and darkest secrets.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a bang followed by several quieter thumps. She opened her eyes again, blinking several times and yawning to make it look like she was just waking up. She peered towards the door and saw that it was now closed, and her father was walking towards her, a letter in one hand, his face contorted into an expression of perplexity, worry and irritation.

"Cassie sweetheart, how long have you been awake?"

He reached out and tucked a strand her of hair behind her ear before leaning forwards and planting a gentle kiss into her hair.

"I know my mum was here…" She whispered deciding honesty really was the best policy.

He sighed and pushed the envelope into her hands, she ripped upon the top and pulled out the sheets of her mother's favourite writing paper, the swirling patterns and flowers in the top right hand corner forcing memories out of hibernation

"She asked for me to pass that on to you… and… to tell you she loves you." His sunk into the chair beside her bed assuming a defeated posture and putting his head in his hands before sighing loudly.

She unfolded the paper and began to read.

_Dear darling daughter Cassie,_

_I'm going to start by apologising that I'm telling you all of this in a letter, but now, after the accident and all the trouble with Steven, if I was to speak to you face to face I'm certain the guilt would consume me and I would be unable to pass on information I should have given you a long time ago._

_I never meant to hide anything from you. We have a no secrets policy in our house, a mark of respect and of trust. I, however, have kept something a secret from you. Something that not only affects me, but you as well. You have a right to be angry with me for hiding it from you, and a right to be angry with me for what I am going to do in the near future, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I did it out of love sweetheart, remember that please._

_Remember me for all the wonderful things we've done together, the holidays to Italy, France, South Africa, Greece, Dubai, and all the others. Remember the time we've gone shopping together, the lazy nights in watching a film whilst stuffing our faces full of chocolate and ice cream. Remember the laughs we've shared, the cuddles and the even the tears. Remember when I took you too your first riding competition and you won first place, remember when we used to go swimming every weekend and the gorgeous lifeguard bought us both a drink afterwards. _

_We travelled everywhere together, all over the country and if our dreams and fantasies we travelled across the stars._

_I want you to remember the time we've spent together, and not what I am about to do._

_I've known about my current situation for a while now, months even. Perhaps I thought things would get better, perhaps I thought if I ignored the problem it didn't exist. It does though, my problem is very much real and we are both about to find out the extent of the damage caused. In retrospect I should have told you the day I first had my doubts, even before I got it confirmed, you're my daughter and this was a battle that involved you almost as much as it has involved me._

_Maybe then you'd have been reunited with your father sooner, after all you would have been prepared for what will surely happen within the next few weeks, you would have been able to contact him and sort things out._

_I know, I never let you contact him before. You're probably wondering what is so life shattering that I have change my mind now. I want you to understand the real reason I would let you contact your father, it was jealousy. Jealousy that the relationship between the two of your had always been stronger than the one between the two of us. You'd always been daddy's little girl and as your mother, the woman who carried you around for nine months before spending 27 hours in labour giving birth to you, I couldn't understand what it was. I resented the relationship you had with your father. So when we were released from police protection, and we were safe out in the real world, I refuse to let you so much a talk about your father, hoping you would forget about him, and that we would be happy together. Just you and me. I was wrong though, you needed him, and I let my jealousy get in the way of that and so I threw myself headfirst into my work and let you get on with your life. I gave you everything to asked for, hoping that I could be the sort of affection you feel towards your father. I know I can't, I was stupid to even try. _

_I'm glad now, that you took it upon yourself to contact him, because it means you've got someone to help you through all this. _

_You see I won't be coming to see you in the hospital, nor when you get out. I won't be around anymore. I'm sorry sweetheart but there is nothing I can do about it. _

_I have cancer. It's untreatable and the doctor has given me weeks to live. I can't bear the thought that these are my last few days walking on this earth amongst all the hustle and bustle of life. I am in pain, both physically and mentally. I hope that goes some way towards explaining my actions, I know this is against everything I ever believed in and that I've always told you that things I am about to do are wrong and immoral, and against Gods will, but I hope pray that you will forgive me, as I pray that God will forgive me for my sins._

_I will pray tonight that God takes care of you, as well as your father, but we both know that your father will cherish and love you like no one else can. _

_I hope you achieve everything you want to, work hard and revise for your GCSE's! Even the ones you think don't matter! Look after yourself, you are a beautiful girl angel and I hope one day you'll be married and you'll raise a family – I hope you'll be a better mother than I was. I didn't give you enough attention in recent years, I've ignored you and focused solely on me career. Money can't buy happiness, I've learnt my lesson._

_Always follow your heart angel and it will guide you towards the right decisions._

_I am so proud of you, you are everything I hoped you would be a more, my beautiful little girl._

_I love you darling,_

_I'm so sorry,_

_All my heart,_

_Your loving mother._

_xxxx_


	21. I can't loose either of you

_Hey!  
This isn't the chapter I wanted to post, this was supposed to be chapter twenty-two however I am a very silly person and I forgot to save it to my memory stick, so it's on the school system. I'll update with this one now, and the post the chapter that should have been this chapter tomorrow (though it may feel all wrong because really that chapter should be here and this chapter should be after it)._

_Thank you to everyone who's still reading this, it's getting close to the end now though, there's roughly nine more chapters!  
**Calliope, Lizziginne, tigpop and EmmaJ1996 - **thank you for the reviews, you are very beautiful amazing people!_

_Please review, here's this chapters question (seeing as I seem to post one every chapter) - what one shot situations would you like to see written in this universe? I've written two or three already, but I'm waiting till this has finished to post them..._

_Enjoy,  
Much love x _

**Chapter Twenty-One**

He'd left his daughter shortly after she'd finished reading the letter. He was worried about what she was doing now his back was turning of course, but she wished to be alone. She needed time to think, and to let it all sink in.

Drumming his fingers on the long white cashier counter, Leo was unconsciously producing a rhythm, each beat rushing after another, pressing and hastening. Staring at middle-aged cashier with a box of expensive luxury chocolates in his hand, and plain gold wrapping paper in the other, he could not help but sighing. He could feel the look of people tired of the long queue burning the back of his neck. He should have just bought the chocolates and given them to his girlfriend as they were. After all, a woman like Janet wasn't going to be bothered about whether or not the box of chocolates was wrapped.

He felt at his pockets, searching for his keys, and then quickly picked up the flimsy plastic carrier bag containing the wine and chocolates before settling it on the passenger seat of his car.

In no time, the car was rocketing on the highway, £25, thirty minutes of wrapping and probably his late arrival home were what it was costing to – hopefully - appease Janet. Not that he knew how she was going to react to his news anyway. He ran through all those details in her head. It had been a long day. He drove mechanically, subconsciously changing gear, all, imagining the expression Janet's face would form while fatigue sluiced through his body like scalding water down rocks.

Leo had just passed an exit on the highway, when the brake lights of the car ahead his flared. He slowed, slowed some more, then he had to press down on the break hard. Dusk was already gathering, the sun a dull glow in the overcast sky. As he crested the hill, the traffic came to a complete stop; a long ribbon of taillights flashing red and white snaked in front of him. He could hear sirens but was unable to place the direction in which the came from, he switched on the radio hoping for some enlightenment. An accident. A pileup. He would see the devastating results at work tomorrow no doubt. He glanced at the gas gauge- the needle pointed at just below a half of a tank; more than enough to return to the peaceful suburb, however the line of cars could be here well over an hour yet.

He let out a frustrated sigh.

Leo sat still for a few minutes, his eyes glazing over as he stared outside the car window. Rows of trees stood tall, proud and defiant in their battle against the howling wind. The nearest exit was about half a mile back, separated from him by a chain of cars gleaming under the white moonlight. He shook his head lightly, and looked at the plastic bag on the backseat. The silvery ribbon stood out from the glossy wrapping paper. No doubt the chocolates would melt if he stayed sat here. Readjusting his body, so that he could feel the satin ribbon, cool and smooth between his fingers. He imagined Janet's delicate fingers untying the ribbon and meticulously opening the wrapping paper so that it would not be torn. She would smile gratefully as she unwrapped the chocolates noticing that they were the more pricey kind. His face slightly relaxed, a smile lit up his tightened face. Would Janet be alright with his request, or would she shoot him down before the words had left his lips?

When he turned back to face the steering wheel, he started to feel uneasy. His mind drifted away from the traffic jam and came to his daughter. Her frail figure hunched over as he'd left them room closing the door silently behind him. Her eyes had been vacant, her expression giving nothing away about her inner turmoil. Would she still be sitting there now, in that exact same position, going over and over the letter in her mind? Would the words form ugly images that would plague her dreams? That was if she actually managed to get any sleep, he couldn't even begin to comprehend what his little girl was feeling right now. Her mother, her own flesh and blood has walked out on her. She had her reasons. That was clear enough. He hadn't seen the letter, Cassie had snatched it away from him when he had reached for it, she had scrunched it on into a tight ball before throwing down on the bed beside her. He hadn't tried to read it again after that.

What had Theresa said that had upset his daughter like that? His imploring gaze and concerned questions had not gotten anything out of his daughter. Instead she'd sat there trying to keep her expression blank but not managing to control the tears welling up behind her soft brown eyes.

After taking a deep breath, he snagged his teeth on his bottom lip and let an instinctive impulse took over. He needed to get home, so he could get back to his daughter. He needed to see Janet who was undoubtedly feeling left out. He needed to explain to her what had occurred and what he planned to do about it. He needed her permission, he needed Janet to understand, because he couldn't choose between her and his daughter. He just couldn't.

He jerked the steering wheel, slid off the lane and onto the uneven gravel shoulder. He put the car in reverse and then backed up, travelling past the traffic still, like a frozen river.

He reached the exit he had seen before safely, then made the turn and rocketed through the softening darkness until he reach the large detached hour he and Janet had bought a year and a half previous.

The concrete floor had several hairline cracks in it and icky tire tread tracks. A thin layer of dirt, gravel, mud, and dust blanketed it. A roll of orange extension cord was hanging from a nail underneath which a toolbox full to the brim with different type of screwdrivers and spanners sat there. Leo hardly ever used anything inside it, he was a DIY kind of man, with his job he never had the time and he could easily afford for someone else to come and do it for him. The glossy white wooden shelves were littered with boxes full of old broken light fixtures, a collection of oils, grease & lubricants for garage door, windows and the lawn mower. A hose lay discarded inside one alongside grass seed, fertilizer, weedkiller, ant traps, slug bait, wasp sprays, heavy-duty bags for garden waste and several trowels and spades. The items had been transferred to this garage after previously hogging the room in his old one, where they had been for as long as he could remember. He was fairly sure they had belonged to Theresa at some point, she had loved to take care of the garden when they were together and frequently enlisted Cassie's help – it would be shock to all that had known them if Cassie was unable to name every flower and every creature that could possibly lurk within a garden. Leaning against the wall was a broom, a shovel, two rakes and an axe, as far as he was concerned none of them had ever been used however Janet has insisted that they needed them when they had visited a garden centre the previous summer.

Christmas decorations stood in a cardboard box held together with several rolls of sticky tape. Strands of Christmas lights protruded from the box like vines weaving there way in and out of the stacked tins of paint on the floor beside the bedraggled box.

There were two spare tires on the floor to the side of the garage door near the wall which held the tiny red garage door button and the light switch, Several pairs of rubber boots, hand prints and smudges could be found lying around the base of the wall.

On the windowsill lay dead bugs, and spider webs in the corners. Janet was constantly nagging at him to clean out the garage and although she claimed it was simply because the room was untidy, he knew it was because she feared going in there and finding a colossal spider lurking behind whatever bottle or tin she required. Although Leo though they were more likely to hide in one of the many gaps where you could see yellow insulation behind the grey brick wall.

Clambering out of the car he moved swiftly dragging the carrier bag from the passenger seat and glancing up towards the steps, which lead to the door, a door that was currently open just a fraction allowing the light from the hallway to flow through. He wiped his feet on the prickly brown mat and looked up the stair and at the door once more, before realising that he wasn't alone.

Janet was stood there staring at him, her expression a mix of vexation and disappointment.

"So much for half an hour" She spat out, "So much for you being desperate to speak to me."

He looked at her before sighing, "Please Janet, I… she got some bad news."

The woman just raised her eyebrows in response.

"We clearly need to talk," She stated bluntly, and Leo got the impression she was trying desperately hard to stay in control of her emotions, "You need to realise that just because the past has returning, doesn't mean you can forget about your present."

At the last word she practically broke down, and Leo knew his mistake. He'd been with his daughter since she had been admitted to the hospital, and before that he'd spent all the time thinking about her, and how much she had changed over the last eight years. He had ignored the one woman who had helped him through the last two years, the woman he had relied on to stay strong whilst he clung on to her and battled the ferocious waters that threatened to submerge him.

She needed to be involved with this too. She needed to meet Cassie, and establish some sort of relationship with his daughter. Other wise she would never understand, and he couldn't bear to loose her over this.


	22. How do it make it all better?

_Hey! Here's the chapter that should have been yesterdays chapter... I will swap the two around at some point. This is what happened before Leo got home. _

_Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I'm going leave it at that this time because I can't check my email's or the review bit on here for some weird reason (my inernet hates me) and I don't want to miss anyone out! I love you all!_

_Please read and review... :) Question - what are Harry and Nikki doing at the moment? Oh, and my hair spells like balsamic vinger (or however you spell it)... however mix it with washing up liquid and it does remove hair dye from your hair! :D_

Enjoy,  
Much love x

**Chapter Twenty Two**

She was sat staring at the bland white wall ahead of her. Her eyes were open, wide and glassy, a haze clouding the window to her mind. Her expression was vacant, devoid of all emotion. Matted blonde hair stuck to her face and glistening tracks from tears told the story of a girl whose heart had been broken.

The antiseptic sting of the cold sanitary pastel blue flooring clung to her throat but still she sat there, impassive and motionless. Hurried nurses bustled in and out of her room, clearly her father had expressed a wish from the to keep an eye on her. This thought infuriated her to a point where the blood within her veins started to boil. Why did he think she needed someone to care for her all the time? He hadn't been around for the last eight years. He hadn't watched her grow up. He didn't know everything she'd been through. He didn't understand that it wasn't the fact her mum had told her she wasn't coming back, it was that she was too spineless to say it to her face.

Ever since she and her mum had come out of police custody she had been left to take care of herself. Her mother had immediately informed the university she had previously worked at of her situation, and of course they welcomed her back with open arms. She had been more excited at the prospect of returning to work than the reality of her and her daughter being handed back their freedom.

She couldn't deny her mother her happiness though. So she'd never said anything. She'd never once complained about her mother's noisy return in the early hours of the morning or the weeks where she was left to fend for herself whilst her mother attended a conference in some desirable destination.

No one else had either until she seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth only to return a month and a half later claiming to have met someone in dire need of the attention of a friend, and she couldn't just abandon them and return to her daughter – who in her eyes was completely fine looking after herself.

Her mother had never realised that her daughter's sunny disposition was a mirage and the smile that graced her face whenever they were in each other's company was forced. Before the age of twelve Cassie had learned to perfect a cheery voice and shut the metaphorical blinds in her eyes, locking her mother out of her mind and away from her true feelings.

Angry, Cassie balled up her fists. Her frail body shook uncontrollably as she battled visibly against the salty tears that threatened to fall. The small white teeth within her upper jaw pressured her lower ones as her thin lips contorted forming a grimace.

She was unable to stop the loud racking sob from protruding from her body.

How could her mother do this to her? They'd had their fair share of problems, all the mothers and daughters did. There were little disagreements over the clothes she wore and the people she befriended but they'd never really argued. Her mum wasn't around enough for anything massive to occur. It was always little things blown out of proportion, they'd always reconciled, her mother had always reminded her that she loved her, that she just wanted to protect her whilst she still could.

Now she'd just gone.

Walked right out of her life.

The letter hadn't even explained why, her mothers ambiguous tone had left her with more questions than her words had answered. Granted at least she'd bothered to say something, she'd known girls with mothers that would have just fled without so much of a whisper to anyone. Disappointment had flooded her small frame, the emotion so strong that she had been unable to hide it from her father's inquisitive gaze as she'd placed the letter down gently beside her on the bed.

Her father.

He stood there and waited patiently until she'd summoned enough strength to speak. Then the words had flowed from her lips like flood waters.

"How could she?" She sobbed.

He just shook his head at her, unable to answer his distraught daughter's question.

"She... she couldn't even tell me." The teenager had tears trailing down her cheeks before they plopped bursting on the white linen bed sheets, "She promised... not secrets... she said there was nothing wrong... we we're fine..."

He reached out and placed his large hand over her small one squeezing gently in an effort to comfort the girl. There was nothing he could say that would make it any better. The poor girl had just lost her mother, the entire would as she knew it had been shattered by the knife-like words her mother had written, and nothing would ever be the same. She was stuck in a hospital whilst several different doctors poked and prodded at her, they gave her no reassurance that she was okay, just gave each other brief looks and left the fearful and distressed girl to ponder her situation.

He was supposed to be her father. He was supposed to be able to make it all okay again, but he couldn't. He didn't know anything about the pale young girl in front of him, her features childlike and innocent, her naive view of the world splintering her previous mature facade.

"Cassie sweetheart, will you let me read the letter?" He reached up and stroked her cheek with his thumb, wiping away her tears.

She shook her head, her eyes wild with grief.

"Okay darling, I can wait..." He sighed, "When you're ready to show me, to talk to me about it, I promise I'll be here."

A small smile graced her face for a second before her bottom lip began to tremble once more and she burst into fresh tears.

"Hush sweetheart, come on now..." He tried to comfort her.

Never in his entire life had he felt so useless. He couldn't even provide any comfort for his distraught daughter. He couldn't help her. He couldn't get her to open up, he couldn't break down her barrier so that she'd let him in. He was inadequate, a complete failure as a father. What could he do when his own daughter obviously didn't trust him enough yet to confide in him? How on earth was he supposed to help her?

Her hair lay limp across her face, her eyes were red and sore, the light that has once sparkled within them had been diminished leaving a visible aching. Her heart lay in pieces, seemingly irreparable. She brought her knees up and tucked them underneath her chin and hugged herself.

"What did she mean when she said I'd hate her for what she's about to do?" She whispered.

"I don't know angel, she refused to tell me anything, she was just adamant I should give you the letter... and... and tell you she loves you..." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him.

"She's only ever lied to me twice... including this." The young girl glanced up at her father, her chestnut brown eyes searching for a trace of emotion in the man's own.

She was shocked by what she found, her father's eyes were pooled with emotion, each separate feelings running into and mingling with the others. She saw his anger, his frustration, his concern. He was upset, unsure of himself and there was a sense of hopelessness dashed in around the look of pure love he was giving her.

He nodded to her, encouraging her to continue.

"The only other time... was... it was about you." She muttered, half hoping that he wouldn't hear. She wasn't sure she wanted to see his reaction; there was a chance, although it seemed like a small chance, that he would just reaffirm her fears and that she would be left alone. "She told me you wouldn't want me around anymore, and that it was futile trying to find you because if you'd ever truly cared about us you would never have stopped searching for us, you wouldn't have been so easy so convince of our deaths. You would have worked out the truth... about the witness protection..."

She paused, waiting for his reaction but got nothing verbal or physical, just a flash of something in his eyes, and so she continued.

"I never really believed her, but she was adamant that you wouldn't want a daughter like me. She said I'd become the kind of girl that you would detest, that you would be disappointed in me. I don't think she ever meant that, I think that she wanted me to stop asking for you. She said, in her letter, that she was always jealous of the relationship we had as a child... I didn't understand anything she'd said before I read that."

Her father took a deep breath and then let it out, giving the girl beside him a small reassuring smile.

"I am proud of you Cassie; I am not disappointed with the girl you have become in the slightest. I love you Cassie, I need you to remember that, always."

She smiled up at him.

"I need to go and ring someone, and then nip home and sort a few things out, but I will come back tomorrow, I promise – then we can see about getting you out of here."

"Okay" She said softly.

He leant down and kissed the top of her head before giving her shoulder a small squeeze and the heading out of the room, and left Cassie alone to imagine the life she could possibly have with her father.


	23. I promise I still love you

_Hey! Sorry that I've yet again left it so long before updating but I'm breaking down uner the amount of revision, coursework and homework I'm expected to do... there's currently only six weeks before my exams begin and I'm terrified. On a positive note though,I got my history results back from the exam I sat in February and I got an A*... the exams only worth 30% of my overall grade but it's pretty good start I think!_

_Thank you to all the lovely reviewers, you mean so much to me. I will write more often I promise, I have swollen tonsils at the moment which is proving to be very painful, and very tedious as I can't even swallow any pain relief... :/ however, it does mean I can spend more time at my computer writing without my parents moaning at me about getting myself to revision! :D_

_Here's the next chapter, it's rather angsty... and I've a quick warning that the next chapter may have distressing content in it, I'll put a note at the top if I actually write what I plan on writing..._

_Please review... What's Nikki's favourite chocolate? and what's Cassie's favourite flower?_

Enjoy,  
Much Love x

Chapter Twenty Three

She was rippling with anger, her entire body shaking as she lead the way into the living room. Bitter tears stung at her eyes as she fought against them, refusing to show him just how much she was hurting. She wouldn't let him see the effect he had on her, she wouldn't allow him to see her fall apart. She very rarely showed any signs of weakness, she had always been the one to remain strong. She had to, he had always needed her to be strong enough to bear the burden of his past, but now his past was creeping up on the two of them and it was moving faster than she was, there was no hope of escaping it.

Was she going to give him an ultimatum? She didn't want him to have to choose between her and his daughter. He had a right to have them both in his life, and secretly she knew that she was scared, terrified that if she tried to make him select which of them he would prefer to have, he would choose his daughter and walk away from everything that they had, from everything they could have.

It couldn't go on like this though. He was never around; he was always at work or with her. She had only been around a little over a week and yet the devastating gap she had wedged between the two of them was quickly becoming more of a cavernous hole.

What could she do?

She could tell him everything she felt, she could be blunt and risk pushing him away even further. She could risk sending their relationship into a state of disrepair by telling him the truth, by telling him why she was so hurt and afraid. What would she do if he didn't understand where she was coming from? Would he leave her if she allowed herself to be so honest with him? Would her straightforwardness offend him? Would it be better for her to sugarcoat the truth?

She could ask him what was happening to them, let him do the explaining; let him tell her how she felt and what they needed to do. She could put the heavy burden of the conversation onto his shoulders, but then he'd probably get the wrong end of the stick. He'd probably think that was all about her insecurity over the re-appearance of his wife and daughter, and Theresa was still his wife... at least until the divorce papers were finalised. That wasn't what was worrying her the most though. It was the distance between them, she'd never contemplated the vast amount of unspoken secrets that litter the space between them, and she'd never considered how their different desires would affect them.

The strain on their relationship had been there for a few months now, and the two of them had simply ignored it and put it down to the excessive amount of hours they both had to put in at work due to difficult cases. However, having spoken to Nikki recently, there hadn't been a case that wasn't routine natural causes for a while, and things at the Lyell Centre had been rather monotonous and dreary. So why was he spending so much time there? Last week she had finished work early and arranged to meet him for a drink, it was only coffee at their usual haunt but it had been time together, or it would have been. He had phoned just half an hour before they were due to meet to tell her that he wouldn't be able to make it because a difficult case had just come in and he didn't want to pressure Harry or Nikki with it. She had believed him at the time, but after her conversation with the young blonde pathologist the other day she was beginning to get suspicious of her boyfriends behaviour.

The man in question was following her, taking tentative steps but not allowing himself to fall to far behind his girlfriend. He looked physically drained and the purple bruise-like circles under his eyes leapt out whilst the rest of his face stayed completely expressionless.

Inside his inner turmoil was erupting, a multitude of emotions raced though him battling with the logic and common sense he prided himself on. What was about to happen? They needed to talk, even to argue, about everything. He was dubious to whether it would solve their problems though, what they really needed was to be honest with each other. As he watched the back of his lover disappear through the glossy white wooden door frame which lead into the living room he was struck by the sudden realisation that this was not entirely about his wife and child reappearing. This was about them, as a couple, and whether or not it was going to last any longer. They needed to sort things out, otherwise worlds would shatter and his whore life would collapse.

He had put everything into this relationship including all his problems and issues with his past, at times there were overbearing and fiercely controlling of his emotions even for him. So how was she coping? He had placed all these burdens upon the women he claimed to love, and he had never even questioned how she was managing to deal with it all. He'd never once checked that she was okay, he'd just supposed that she was fine and that she was dealing with it all in her own way. It had never stuck him that she might need to talk about it, or that perhaps it was causing her any amount of distress, no matter how small.

How could he be so presumptuous?

She was a beautiful woman; she was strong, loyal and dedicated. She was everything he could possibly crave, and yet he took her for granted. He had come to expect things of her, to demand them even and he never once thanked her, or showed her any real appreciation.

Now it had come to this.

They were going to shout, and scream at each other. They would fight and they would feel guilty about the things they would say, but whatever words left their lips would be honest. They would all be words that if left unspoken would fester and decay preventing them from bridging the gap that had been allowed to grow between them.

Their relationship was under a serious about of pressure to say the least, and it was on the verge of collapsing. He knew that he was partly to blame; in fact if he was honest with himself the majority of the blame lay on his shoulders. She had tried to make time for them. She had tried to arrange for them to meet during their breaks, to go for a drink or to get lunch, to have time to talk. He'd avoided her though, made stupid excuses to get out of them at the last minute, and she would find out that he had lied. It was simply a case of when and where.

As they took their places beside each sofa, almost as though the scene about to unfold had been carefully rehearsed he took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Janet…" He voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"No Leo." Her voice was quite the contrast, loud and clear, "I can't do this anymore, the secrets, the lying or the tension. I can't keep this up."

He looked down at the cream carpet beneath his feet, noticing he was still wearing his shoes. Normally she'd be going mad at him for trading mud into the house. She had other things to be upset about now.

"This isn't who we are. We used to be so much more than this, and now you're avoiding me and hiding things from me. You lie to me Leo; you make up excuses so we don't have to meet. If you don't want to spend time with me, then just say… and don't tell me you don't lie because I was talking to Nikki the other day and she says you haven't had a case with any sort of complications in weeks, you're all struggling to find paperwork to do for goodness sake, even Harry!" Her eyes were brimming with tears and she'd lost the war. She couldn't control them now. "We've been like this for months, and your daughter's just given you another reason not come home. I'm not denying that this is hard for you too, I know you thought she was dead for all these years, I know you though you'd lost her for good… but now I've lost you, and I don't know how to deal with that Leo. I can't deal with that. I love you. I've told you a million times and I always mean it, I will love you for eternity if you'll let me. You've always said you loved me too and up until now I've never doubted that… but now I'm not sure I know who you are anymore because we never spend any time together, and you don't seem to want me."

She stopped. Her body was shaking and the tears were snaking down her cheeks before crashing to the floor. He could see she was fighting her emotions, willing herself to hold it together in a hopeless battle.

He reached out and she pulled away from him.

"Janet, I do love you. I love you so much and nothing will ever change that, not ever. I know I've not been around, and yes I have been avoiding you, but…" was now the time to be honest with her? If he wasn't, what would happen to them? He couldn't bear to even think about it. "Thing's haven't been easy for either of us, not for a while now. I've been hiding away at work, hoping that I wouldn't have to face you. I was scared Janet, scared of coming home to you because I know what you want, and I know what you want to talk about, ever since I got back from Hungary it's all you've talked about. You asked me about adoption… all those months ago and I smiled and said we'd have to talk about it, I tried to be happy, I tried to tell myself that it was a good idea, that I wanted it just as much as you do, but the truth is I don't. I thought my daughter was dead then, and now she turns up and she's in hospital and her mothers got cancer and only told her today, through a letter of all things, now my little girl is distraught and I'm worried about her. I'm terrified that her emotions are going to cause her to do something stupid, and that doesn't excuse my behaviour. None of that is a reason for me to ignore you, I should have been honest with you about the adoption, I couldn't face having a child with you because I was petrified that what happened with Theresa and Cassie would repeat itself! I don't know, maybe now she's back… when she's okay again."

Janet was staring at him, her tears still cascading down her cheeks, the light reflecting off the translucent tracks highlighting her distraught features.

"She has cancer?" She whispered.

Then Leo remembered. Janet mother had died suddenly, the doctors had said it was cancer, her mother would have known but she had received no medical treatment. She hadn't even gone to the doctors. She'd just pretended everything was normal, just like Theresa had with Cassie.

He nodded slightly, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh the poor girl" She was still whispering, "That's… that's why you wanted to talk to me, you said on the phone."

Her sentences were fractured, but she seemed to have calmed down considerably, though the tears still poured from her eyes.

He nodded again.

He placed his hand on her arm and manoeuvred her so they were both sitting down on the chocolate leather sofa behind them. He moved a strand of her long black from her face and wiped the tear from under her eyes before pulling her gently to him, embracing her.

"I... I want her to live with us. I know, she's not your daughter and we haven't got children and I know you want a child of your own more than anything else, but I can't abandon her. I've spent to long away from her, Teresa, she kept my daughter from me out of jealousy for so many years, and I can't bear to think that I might loose her again."

Janet was nodding.

"When my mum died, I needed my dad more than anything, but he retreated back into himself. I had no one. Cassie shouldn't have to go through that, I've been in her shoes, I know what it's like to loose one parent and be terrified of loosing another…" She was whispering, her voice vacant of emotion as she spoke of her past. "I want to meet her first though, it... it would be awkward if we hadn't met before she moved in, I don't want her to feel…" She left the sentence hanging and sighed.

"You don't want her to feel threatened by the fact I've got a girlfriend that isn't her mother?" Leo questioned, already knowing that this was true.

She nodded.

"I understand, Steven… Theresa's ex-boyfriend, he… he was aggressive towards her. I don't know how she's going to react, all we can do is assure her that it's not going to be like that if she's with us."

Janet nodded again.

"I'll take you to see her tomorrow when I go?" He kissed the top of her head, "Is that alright?"

She nodded once more, and Leo placed two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up so he could kiss her lips in a soft tender yet emotional kiss, making sure that Janet knew just how much he loved her.


	24. This is my end This is my choice

_I don't update for a week and then there's two update in one day! lol. I've just written this and I want to get it up now, I have roughly another three chapters planned out... and then I don't know... that'll probably be the end of this particular fic._

_WARNING: This chapter contains suicide. I feel it's only like all of the other chapters until the line 'now she was alone', that's when suicide really gets mention and IS discribed, if you don't want to read it, you don't have to nor is it essential to the storyline that you do. I've tried to be as vague with my discriptions as possible, but I feel the scene did need to be there for those that want to read it. Just be aware that it does happen, I tried to be as delicate as I could about the situation and I have friends who have had experiances of suicide, and I myself have had experiances with it, so I understand how hard it can be to read about it. _

_Please review, I would mean a lot to me - What's song do you think suits Cassie's feelings at the moment? (I promise these questions have a relevance!) _

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

Chapter Twenty Four

Like crashing waves amidst a violent storm, the rolling dark clouds had descended upon the house. Thunder and lightening echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls whilst bright flashes illuminated the room for a few seconds before plunging it back into darkness.

Muffled were the voices of the couple next door, his voice threatening, hers high and screeching like nails on a chalkboard. There had been concerns about domestic violence throughout the neighbourhood when the young women had come out sporting a black eye and several nasty looking cuts and bruises, but she'd said nothing, and Theresa didn't care much to involve herself in someone else's business, as selfish as it sounded. She had enough problems of her own.

The wind rattled at the windows and the branches of a tree clawed at the glass. She moved towards it, pulling the stiff latch upwards and opening the window as wide as it would go. She leant out of it, feeling the harsh wind scratch at her face, it's fierce hiss surrounded her as she leant further forwards and closed her eyes relishing in the astringent caress.

The empty house behind her stood decaying and lonely, the landing window facing her house had been smashed, probably by rowdy youths with nothing better to do on a Friday night. The garden looked pretty similar to her own, a disarray of weeds and brambles twisted, snaking around one another. The rotten wooden fence, which had once outlined vibrant flowerbeds, had collapsed, the withered flowers long since gone leaving only the spindly skeleton of a tree which Cassie had bought her two years ago for her birthday.

The two of them had carved their names into a smooth rock they'd gone out and bought from a garden centre. They could have got it engraved whilst they were there, but it had been much more fun sitting together underneath the full force of the hot summer sunshine with a knife and a pair of sharp scissors trying to write their names and the date. Ever the artistic one, Cassie had added a little heart and a small childish stickman drawing of the two of them.

She pulled away from the window, slamming it shut behind her before locking it. There was no time to waste reminiscing; she couldn't delay herself by thinking of her daughter – her beautiful daughter who would have read her letter by now. What did she think of her? Was she angry? Upset? Disappointed in her mother? Was she confused? She had been ambiguous about what she was going to do tonight for a reason, if Cassie didn't find out about her actions, and then she didn't want her to know. Of course she probably would find out, her fathers line of work made it impossible for him not to discover what she was about to do, and surely he'd tell her? He'd see it as his duty, to be honest with her, to make sure it was him who told her rather than some silly gossip with nothing better to do and no real empathy towards the young girl.

She manoeuvred herself out of the darkroom and down the hallway towards the stairs, she switched all the lights off as she went before heading into the kitchen and collecting the bag of items she had placed there earlier. At the far end of the kitchen was a door, she switched off fluorescent lights in the kitchen as she twisted a shiny gold key in the lock and pulled the heavy door open. Another set of stairs awaited her, these ones were wooden and unstable, but it didn't matter, as she wouldn't need them again. Surely whoever bought the house when she was gone would replace them, or would the house fall into an unsightly state of disrepair like the one next door?

Theresa let her foot sink onto the first creaky stair. She'd switched the light on but whilst the light at the bottom seemed bright enough, it didn't push much further than a few feet beyond the bottom of the stairwell. The vast room, which housed unless pieces of junk and a few of the items of furniture they hadn't had room for when they'd moved, seemed impossibly far away, past shadowy figures dancing on the walls and the broken mirror swinging slightly on the wall as she pushed herself further down the stairs. She swallowed, and then spun back to the door. Was she doing the right thing? Was this really what she wanted? She didn't want to keep trying the chemotherapy when it obviously wasn't working and she didn't want to have to put up with the pitying looks people would give her when they found out about her predicament. She wanted everything to stop, the pain, the pity and the problems.

Her mouth had gone dry as the musty stench filled her nostrils, the vile odour of mould and mildew made her gag, bile rising rapidly, burning the back of her throat. She could smell the wet boxes, rot, and an ozone-like tang from the cement and open metal framework of the pipes and foundations.

The cold moved around her, wrapping itself around her, the cold chill of the air clinging to her skin. She clenched her fists, the tension in her body reaching a new height. She was bumping into boxes, knocking over stacks of old magazines and empty tins of paint that had been stored down here and forgotten about. As she stumbled forwards there was a raspy sound and she felt damp soak through her trousers and feel at her legs as she walked into a cardboard box that happened to be sitting beneath a dark patch on the ceiling. A dark patch that Theresa was pretty sure had been caused by the leaking pipe underneath the kitchen sink, that she hadn't had time to repair yet. Steven had offered to do it, and of course never actually bothered too. The wise old saying 'if you want something doing, do it yourself' had always been true in Theresa's case, she'd never had a boyfriend, or husband for that matter, that actually acted on their words.

She kicked the box.

"Why does this have to be so damn hard?" She screamed into the empty silence, "Why can't I just do it, I want this!"

She kicked the box again, angry tears welling up behind her eyes, stinging profusely.

"I have to do this!" She shouted feeling pain rip though her throat but finding that she didn't actually care about it. It was nothing but a dull ache compared to the metaphoric pain she felt, leaving behind her teenage daughter, she would never get to see her grow up, get married, and have a family of her own. She'd never get to see her achieve her dreams, see her become the ambitious woman she knew her daughter would be.

She looked at the canary yellow plastic bag in her hand and thought about what lay inside it.

What happened if everything went wrong? What would people think of her? Would they send her to see a specialist, someone who thought they understood her when really they hadn't the slightest idea how she was feeling? Or would they think that was a waste of time, seeing as she was going to die soon enough anyway?

What was stopping her from doing it right now?

Nothing.

It hit her like a bullet to the brain.

Nothing was stopping her. No one knew. No one cared. She had made the decision to push everyone away and now she was alone.

She pulled the rope out of the bag, before scurrying over to the far right hand corner of her basement pulling out a set of weights that had once belonged to her former husband – not that he'd ever used them. She lifted it up using both hands with great difficulty and stumbled over to the metal counter in the other far corner. It took her four strides at the most, and every movement she made felt like it was taking an eternity.

This was it.

She tied one end of the rope around the weight and then pulled herself so she was sat on the counter, she felt the cold seep through her clothing like icy water. She tied the other end, making a noose before slipping it around her neck and pulling it, securing it in place.

Her eyes flickered upwards towards the metal beam, which had been put in place when the old wooden one had cracked dangerously, threatening to cave in the entire house. If she stood on the table she would be eye level with it, all she had to do was stand up and throw the weight over it.

It'd all be over in seconds.

Her hands were shaking as she help the weight in a vice-like grip, before pulling her feet underneath her and pushing herself up, using all her strength to hold her body upright as she swayed, trying to find her balance with the weight in her hands.

The metal beam was so close it was within touching distance.

This was it. No more pain. No more worry. She has control over when she died.

She felt a wave are an unnamed emotion surge through her body and she threw the weight, it flew over the beam and crashed to the floor, in that split second dragging her body from the table and into the air. For a moment it spelt as though she was flying, suspending in time, as well as the air. The harmonious music of her daughters joyous laughter surrounded her, she felt the warmth of the summer sunshine on her skin as she relived the days where her and her daughter had been carefree, and happy, just living each day as it came.

Then a searing pain ripped through her, making her want to scream, but she couldn't.

Then it was gone, and all that was left was the darkness.

The vast empty darkness.


	25. Sunrise

_Beautiful readers!_

_This didn't go where I wanted it too... I wanted this to be the chapter where Janet meets Cassie, but it didn't get that far... instead it became this.._

_Thank you for all the lovely reviews, I realise i haven't replied to them individually in a while, I'm sorry, stupid exams like to take all my time up!  
EmmaJ1996 - thank you! :D  
Calliope - There might be! I haven't planned one yet but knowing me I'll get a sudden urge to write one, oh... and as for that typo in chapter 23, I now have scary thoughts of Leo's 'secret life'... lol!  
tigpop - thank you and thank you again! :)  
Lizziginne - Thank you and well done with your AS modules! _

_Please review! Todays question is... *imaginary drum roll*... what colour does Cassie want to paint her room and why? _

_Enjoy,  
Much Love x_

Chapter Twenty-Five

He watched as the large glowing sphere rose slowly into the dull morning sky. The shimmering, gold disk began to shine with invigorating colour. He sat there drinking in the liquid gold droplets that slowly began to warm up his pale skin. Highlighting the bruise-like circles underneath his eyes making it even more obvious that he'd had no sleep that night. A moment later, the golden sun was sitting in its rightful place among the soft blue sky casting sunbeams in every direction while it illuminated the small town in the valley below. He stared through the glass panes as the colours made by the rising sun changed, growing more vivid with the passing time. Making the sky more radiant as it climbed higher and higher into the sky. It was beautiful and enlightening but at the same time it filled him with fear. The golden ray had first appeared in the sky early in the morning and he had watched as it grew into a big ball of fire changing from dark orange to dark yellow as it began to heat up the earth. It moved across the sky with such grace, almost as if it owned it. It was an amazing sight and yet the fire before his eyes symbolised the pain and hate that would undoubtedly consume the body of his young daughter, and thousands of others that day.

""The sun is an arsonist that sets the sky ablaze…" He whispered to himself, failing to remember where he had heard that quote before.

The beauty of the scene before his eyes should empower him and yet it held nothing but a warning of the horrors that would await him that day.

Behind him, amongst the safety of pleasant dreams and cotton bed sheets, Janet was sleeping. Her face was arranged in a tranquil expression and every now and then a small smile were dance on her lips as she dreamt.

It was in these moments that Leo liked to sit and watch his girlfriend; some may find it creepy that he liked to observe her whilst she slept but it was at time like this that he could truly appreciate his girlfriend's beauty. Her long black hair was fanned out across the pillow; stray pieces framed her face. The soft glow of the sun highlighted her dark skin, her eyelashes fluttered gently as the sun moved into her eyes and she turned over, her back to the window and her breathing once again resumed a steady rhythmic pattern.

Although it had been a while since they last been out together he could still smell her favourite expensive perfume that she only wore on special occasions, it clung to the curtains and to the clean linen on the bed. He could smell her hairspray and her nail polish, almost as if she was getting ready right at that moment. As he watched her sleep peacefully he could almost hear her complaining loudly that she had nothing to wear. This thought of her having nothing to wear always made him chuckle, her wardrobe was pull to the point of bursting with clothes – some of which she had only worn once, still she always needed another outfit for each occasion, she never had anything to wear.

He went over and past on the edge of the bed, talking small steps so as not to wake his sleeping lover. As he sat down the bed groaned, protesting loudly at the added weight. He felt the silky sheets underneath his fingers and breathed in Janet's scent, it was floral and homely. It never failed to relax him and, just like the sight of his lover, it made him fall in love with her all over again.

On the light wooden cabinet beside her be, several glossy magazines shouted at him, screaming the stories of several celebrities. He knew Janet didn't really care about 'Jessica and Justin' and the fact they'd split up or that Kerry Katona thinks Jordan needs to see a councillor. She only read those magazines so she had something to talk to the other women at work about, as a professor she had the responsibility of speaking to everyone in her department and that included the young women with their heads in the clouds who thought of nothing but the latest celebrity scandal.

Suddenly the alarm on the table beside his girlfriend kicked in and the laughter of a radio presenter filled the room as he introduced the topic of today's breakfast show. The bed springs squeaked as his girlfriend shuffled towards the side of the bed, lifting one arm from beneath the covers to begin searching for the cold unwelcoming hard button to turn her alarm clock off. Her eyes flickered open, a dazed expression on her face and she came round, she glanced at him and smiled slightly.

"Watching me were we?" She smirked.

He laughed lightly, "Of course, I was once again struck by your beauty."

A blush rose in her cheeks and she turned away from him, busying herself with the phone on her bedside table.

"Wouldn't believe how many people think it's suitable to text me over night." She muttered to herself making Leo laugh once again.

"Laura again?" He asked.

Laura was Janet's colleague, and the only woman older than Janet in the psychology department. However the woman had failed to grasp an understanding of her age and preferred to spend her time living as though she was still twenty. She often went out clubbing and felt it was necessary to text her friend every time someone looked at her.

Janet was laughing as she read the text message.

"Yeah, she felt she had to inform me that she can't remember how to open her car door and so she had got a taxi home." Janet laughed once more and her friends antics. "She'll still arrive at work on time too, she's amazing that women, how can someone be so professional and yet so immature?"

Leo just shrugged his shoulders, professional yet immature, that reminded him of a certain young man he worked with, however he was still in his thirties and so it was probably still acceptable for him to behave in such a way.

His wife giggled slightly, already knowing what he was thinking about without him saying a word.

They'd had breakfast and got ready as usual before Leo had brought up their decision the night before.

"Do you still want to come and meet Cassie?" He asked.

Janet turned to him, "Of course…"

He smiled, "Well, I promised I'd be back this morning, so if you're ready…?" He left the question hanging.

Janet nodded, worry flashing across her face before she took control of her emotions and placed a smile there instead. "Let me just get my coat.."

Leo wasn't stupid though, and he'd seen the anxious look that had danced across hr features, and he knew what she was thinking. She was scared of how Cassie was going to react, would the girl be willing to share her father with her? Would Cassie accept Janet's place in his life after what had happened to her mother, or would she automatically assume the Janet was there to replace her?

He reached out and placed a hand on his girlfriends arm, "You don't need to be worried, I'm sure she'll love you. Just like I do." He smiled.


	26. Meeting for the first time

_Hey! Random midweek update! Slowly but surely I'm finishing coursework so I'm starting to get more and more lessons where I can just sit and do what ever... which means more fanfiction of course! :D_

_I currently have laryngitis (or however you spell it!), I feel awful, my tempretures up, I can't speak or eat and I keep coughing... :/ I'm not a happy bunny so wandering off to the land of Leo and Janet is good respite for me, so I'll have to write more chapters soon!_

_Thank you for all the reviews, they're lovely and they mean so much to me!_

_Please keep reviewing because it really makes my day and you've lovely comments really make me feel better when I feel this ill... :)_

_Oooooh, Cassie and Janet moment!_

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

The white walls and pasty green corridors were enough to make the healthy visitors inside the establishment feel sickly. Sticky handprints clung to the transparent plastic which stood in the place of glass in windows and doors, a visual element of the strict health and safety regulations which said glass was too dangerous to use.

Her swollen heart was thumping against her chest in a dramatic rhythm and a searing pain cut through her chest as the nerves grasped at her throat restricting her breathing. Nausea swept over her dragging her from her feet and leaving her bedraggled and leaning against the wall – desperately clinging to the peeling paint, unable to stand on her feet.

She shouldn't be this scared of a teenage girl – especially not one that was lying limply somewhere beneath the swampy hospital bedding. The nerves within her were causing her to shake from her very core, this girl as her boyfriend's daughter. Shaken by her experiences over the last few days, and the psychological effects of previous situations, this girl would no doubt have scars that would never heal.

She followed him up the corridor, their feet beating against the squeaky clean floor. The bitter sting of antiseptic scratched at her throat making her gag, lemon and pine scented cleaning fluids made her eyes water, the hot salty tears threatening to form a waterfall that would pour from her soft chestnut eyes.

Leo's face held a look of pure determination as he weaved in and out of the doctors and nurses bustling up and down the corridor, visiting patients and administering medications. He shoved past a huddle of students stood outside a room which held one of their peers who was groaning and whinging about pain – though from the look on the faces of the nurse seeing to him, he'd brought it all on himself.

She slipped through the gap formed by her lover between the startled youths and hurried her pace to catch up with him.

He was desperate to see his daughter. After eight years the love he felt towards her had not diminished in the least. The passion in his eyes seeped through his skin, pooling around his feet, creating a puddle of affection. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his little girl, and after being abandoned in this desolate hospital by her mother, he could afford to spend time away from her – she needed him. Her own experiences reminded her of the amount of cajoling and promise-making that would be needed in order for her to gain the trust of the fragile teenage girl; she would not be willing to open her heart to a stranger right now. The incessant ache caused by the hole where her mother had ripped herself from her life would harbour resentment and rejection for a long time – no matter what they said or what they did, it was inevitable. She had felt the same when her own mother had died, only she hadn't had a father who cared half as much as Leo did.

He stopped outside one of the clone beech doors with a small transparent panel within it. He peered inside, his concerned expression relaxing at the scene before him.

Cassie's eyes were closed and a peaceful expression adorned her face. A graceful smile danced timidly across her face. He would have thought she was sleeping if it wasn't for her uneven ragged breathing. Clearly she hadn't realised how it was stood outside her door, the nurses had told him on his last visit that she had been pretending to be asleep whenever they visited so that she wouldn't have to answer their questions, or participate in any physical examination.

As he placed his hand on the door and young doctor came sprinting towards him.

"Professor Dalton?" He tried desperately to catch his breath.

Leo nodded.

"I'm Dr Briggs, the senior consultant here..." His voice held an air of authority but an element of respect for the elder professor was still evident.

Leo shook the doctor's hand surprised that such a man, who didn't look like he could be even out of his twenties, was a senior consultant. "Pleased to meet you, how can help you? Are you treating Cassie?"

The young man shook his head, "Oh, no. I'm afraid not, erm... would it be possible to speak to you in private perhaps?"

"Of course" Leo turned and smiled at Janet, "Won't be a minute, you can go in if you like..." He gestured towards the door.

Janet smiled at him, her insides twisting, he expected her to go in there alone now. Even if he didn't show it, she knew he wouldn't severely disappoint if he came back and found her still outside the little room.

Leo strode down the corridor as the young doctor hurried along ahead of him towards a door at the far end of the corridor labelled 'family room'. Clearly whatever he had to say was important, but what news could he possibly bare, that warranted such privacy, especially as it wasn't about the young girl in the room next door.

She placed a hand on the smooth wood and looked through the glass. Cassie Dalton was stunning, even though the hospital gown drowned her, and her lifeless sunken eyes had purple bruises beneath them. Her light ash blonde hair shone in the stream of sunlight filtering through the long rectangular window at the far side of the room. Her features were perfectly arranged and she had an air of innocence about her that added to her beauty.

As Janet stared at the young girl, her eyes flickered open and suddenly she was met with startled cappuccino coloured eyes. A hurricane of emotions was teeming behind the glassy gaze and Janet felt the wave of sympathy as it flooded her being.

The shocked expression upon the girls face quickly became an inquisitive one and Janet felt compelled to enter the little hospital room. She pushed the door and tentatively stepped inside.

"Cassie?" She asked feeling stupid, she already knew who this girl was, there could be no question, she was the spit image of her father, although there were elements, like her lips, that Janet couldn't place and so concluded that she had inherited them from her mother.

The young girl nodded.

"Hello" Janet felt self-conscious introducing herself to her boyfriend's daughter, it was like meeting your lover's mother, she was worried that the teenager wouldn't approve of her. "I'm Janet, I'm... I'm your dads girlfriend... he asked me to come sit with while he went to speak to one of the doctors."

She looked at the floor; Cassie wasn't saying anything, just staring, almost as though she was trying to decipher her motive for appearing outside her door.

"Oh." The whisper was so low she practically missed it.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" Janet gestured towards the vacant seat beside the bed, if she could get this girl to talk to her then maybe things would be alright.

Cassie just shook her head and Janet noticed the sorrow pooled in her eyes.

She took her seat and for a few minutes they sat in silence, but when the hush became awkward she coughed and decided to try and connect with the teenager.

"Your dad told me about your mum..." This got Cassie's attention and a flash of emotions ran across her face.

"He thinks he understands, but last time I knew he still had both his parents!" Cassie scoffed.

Janet nodded, "When my mum died I was a little bit older than you... and I remember everyone telling me it'd be fine, that they knew how I felt but things would get better... they didn't... not really... not until I met your father."

Cassie nodded, and visibly relaxed suddenly feeling more comfortable around her father's girlfriend. Janet had lost her mum too, and although she felt a twinge of guilt for feeling the way she did, was glad that she had, because that meant she did understand the emotions running through her teenage mind. She wasn't another one of the liars.

"I'm scared..." The young girl whispered.

Janet nodded, "Do you want to me why?"

She nodded, "I can't see a future for myself now... I don't know where I'm going to go when I get out of here, my dad keeps talking about us making up for lost time... but when he doesn't have to feel guilty because I'm ill and in hospital, well... I'm not sure he'll want me around." She looked at the bedding beneath her.

"Oh Cassie!" Janet sighed, reached out and squeezing the younger girls arm.

Suddenly Leo burst through the door, out of breath. His eyes, the battle ground of fierce combat between anger and despair.

"Leo? What's happened?" Janet asked as Cassie's face fell.


	27. Worlds are upside down

_Hey!_

This chapters awful but I'm still ill and I've got a ton of revision to do for these exams in 5 weeks time, but I don't feel up to it, I've still got no voice and I'm now feverish and I've collapsed twice today alone. I hate being ill.  
Anyway, thank you to all the beautiful people who reviewed... **EmmaJ1996, Calliope, tigpop, Lizziginni, **you are all amazing, thank you so so so much! You're honestly the reason I keep writing this even though right now all I want to do is curl up and sleep 24/7. Oh, and Calliope - :( I hope you're okay and feel better soon! x

_Please review! It would mean a lot to me! Question for this update is... what's janets/cassie's favourite shop?.. (it can be the same or a different one for each).. :)_

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

Chapter Twenty Seven

Silence floated through the open window and descended on the room. The expression on Leo's face told them the most important piece of his news, it was devastating. It would shatter their conjoined world and most important it would break the young girl laid on the bed beside Janet, the young girl who was still clinging to the older woman's hand desperately.

"Leo?" Janet eventually managed to choke out.

The elder man took a deep breath and took a few steps toward till he was standing over the foot of the hospital bed. His looming figure towering over her bed made Cassie feel uncomfortable, memories of that night with Steven flooded her mind.

_She found herself back in her murky bedroom; the bulb on the ceiling above emitted a limp lifeless glow that barely illuminated the carpet directly below. She was sat upon the dishevelled pink bed covers creating a cocoon of safety around herself as she tried to focus her mind on the biology work in front of her. It was due in the next day and she had so far been unable to even focus one iota on the nervous system. _

_It had been just about to turn nine when her mother had walked in, closely followed by Steven whose expression held all the hatred he felt towards her, and his completely disapproval of her existence. Her mother's boyfriend was aggressive and in all honestly she couldn't see what her mother saw in him. _

_He had pushed his mother into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him, and immediately started screaming at her. Cassie had retreated back to her bedroom from her position on the landing, where she had wandered when she had heard her mother's car pull into the drive. She closed the door and tried to block out the raise voices coming from below. _

_She didn't know when she had fallen asleep but when she awoke to a large bang coming from downstairs the clock on her bedside table read 1:30am. She heard footsteps storming up the stairs and she flinched. She had no way of telling whether it was Steven or her mother... and she wasn't sure which one was worse._

_She got her answer a few seconds later when Steven burst into her room. He gave her a sadistic smile as he shut the door behind him softly. As he approached her bed her heart flew into her mouth. What did he want? He could be cruel and heartless but he'd never once overstepped the boundaries of her bedroom, and that smile... what was he planning on doing? _

_When he spoke his voice was low and the callous tone made her shiver, "Your mothers being naughty and my normal punishments aren't working..."_

_She held his gaze as he stared straight into her, it felt as if he was looking straight into her soul. He was intruding into her thoughts and she didn't like it. She wanted him out._

"_I'm going to have to try some new methods..." his voice was patronising. He sounded out each word as if he was speaking to a child, with a false smile plastered across his face._

_It was in that moment that she realised what he meant, what his cold-hearted words were insinuating. Her heart thumped loudly trying to burst free from her chest. Her breathing became ragged and her throat constricted making it feel as though she was suffocating. She wanted to scream but the sound got lost in her mouth and instead all she managed was a muffled squeak._

"_Don't even try and move" he said as he lurched forwards on to the bed._

_This time she managed a glass-shattering scream._

"Cassie?"

Both Janet and Leo were leaning over her bed; her father's hands were on her shoulders as he gently shook her.

"Cass, you okay sweetheart?" he asked, his voice was full on concern.

She looked at him, his imploring gaze made her feel uncomfortable. What should she tell him? The truth? That would worry him, make him angry, or maybe he wouldn't even believe her, her mother hadn't at first, and she'd heard it happening.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Her voice came about like a whisper.

Her dad gave her a look that clearly said 'I don't believe you'.

"Sweetheart, you screamed. Why?" Guilt seemed through her skin, he really was worried about her.

She shook her head, "I just… remembered something. It doesn't matter though."

Her dad sighed still unconvinced, but he left it at that. There was no point in pushing her, she had been a very stubborn child and there was no doubt that the characteristic would still be present now, probably even stronger than before.

She wasn't going to tell him anything unless she really wanted to.

Janet looked between father and daughter, there was an entire river of secrets flowing rapidly between them and they had to establish some sort of trust so that they could reveal the truth, they couldn't hide things from each other forever. An awkward silence had descended and Janet decided that neither of the other two was going to break it any time soon, so she had to.

"Why did you come running in here so panicked anyway?" She asked. It wasn't like her boyfriend to loose his cool. His job required him to stay professional at all times and keep a calm exterior at all times. He'd build up the necessary skills and often used them in his personal life, much to her frustration. What had shocked him so much that he would burst into his daughter's hospital room in such a freaked-out manner?

Leo sighed, "Well… The doctor had something to tell me, something that might be linked to what your mother meant in her letter yesterday…"

Cassie's full attention was on her father now.

"I'm afraid he had some rather disturbing news..."

Why was he talking in such little sentences? Why couldn't he just spit it out? Cassie was beginning to get frustrated by this, and clearly the expression on her face mirrored these feelings and her father smiled apologetically.

"Look, your mum was obviously very ill Cass. I don't want you to think any less of her because of what she's done because… well because we don't really know that it was like to be in her shoes…" Leo was avoiding the point. Normally he was good speaking about death, explaining what had happened to loved ones was part of his job, and he'd comforted many bereaved relatives in his time as a pathologist, so why couldn't he tell his daughter?

"was" Cassie stated.

Leo looked puzzled, "What?"

"You said, 'what it was like'… you said was…" Cassie breathing had become erratic is she tried to take control and hold back her tears.

"Cass… she was ill, she was dying. She wanted some control over when and where. She didn't want to loose the battle against cancer. You know your mum, she couldn't stand loosing anything…" Leo was making excuses for her and Cassie wasn't going to stand for that. The fury within her veins reached boiling point and she started to yell.

"No! Don't you dare make excuses for her! She was the first one to comment on how 'unchristian' and 'evil' suicide was every time she saw something about it on the news!"

Her father tried to calm her but it was futile, she was becoming more and more hysterical by the minute.

"You must remember how religious she was! I mean, yeah, she hardly had time to go to church because of work but she always carried her bible around with her, and she always made sure I read mine! All my life she's told me how important it is to believe and to pray, and to do what God says is right! Now she goes and does this! She abandons her daughter and then commits suicide! She'll burn in hell for that! She will!" She couldn't breath, her throat constricted and she gasped trying to suck the smallest amount of oxygen into her system.

A doctor burst through the door followed by a team of nurses, Janet and Leo were pushed to the back of the room, forgotten about, as the staff bustled around Cassie's bed trying to treat the hysterical young girl.

It wasn't until ten minutes later than a doctor turned round from the limp teenager lying in the bed and acknowledged the presence of her father and his girlfriend.

"I'm afraid we've had to sedate her." He looked very apologetic, "She's exhausted herself, both physically and mentally. I understand that her mother recently commits suicide." At Leo's shocked expression he then added, "I was on the team that tried to save her, unfortunately she was found too late." Leo nodded and the doctor continued. "It's not uncommon for someone as close to a suicide victim as Cassie was, to react like that. Especially in her current situation, she feels abandoned and I'm afraid the only medicine we can treat that with is time."

Leo nodded once again and then sighed.

"When will she be discharged?" He asked.

"Well, we were hoping it would be today, but after her little episode just then I think it would be better to keep her over night and see how she is tomorrow. She might be a little more accepting of the truth when she's had time to sleep and recover from the shock."

Leo nodded and thanked the doctor before making his way over to the little bed, which held his only daughter.

"Oh Cassie, It'll all be alright eventually, I promise you sweetheart."


	28. Birthdays

_Hey! :D_  
_Here's another update, thank you to Calliope, EmmaJ1996, Lizziginne and tigpop for the lovely reviews! I love you all... :)_

_I'm still ill, but feeling slightly better after spending today writing and drinking tea... still can't eat anything much though. :/_  
_Oh and I realised (weirdly only just realised) that you guys have never met me, ever, so hi! I'm sending you all a smile - if you go on my profile you'll see!_

_Hope you like this chapter, a little look at past events and a bit of Leo/Janet :)_

_Please review - I'm going to ask about Cassie/Leo moments you'd like to read about this time... anything you'd really like to see?_

_Enjoy,_  
_Much love x_

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A timid breeze shuffles in through the open patio doors as you watch your wife of almost seven years set out all of the brightly coloured hard plastic dishware in preparation for the celebration-taking place in a few hours time. You feel nervous, this day has to be special and memorable for all the right reasons, but you can't help wondering whether the whole thing will turn out to be a complete disaster.

All around you there are balloons floating aimlessly as the wind lifts them high above the head of the young girl sat on the soft cream carpet. There are endless lines of streamers, stacks of party hats, confetti, and brightly wrapped presents of all different shapes and sizes. The shredded remains of envelopes have been discarded by the girl and now lay forgotten about in the form of a small mountain in the corner of your living room. The pink princess themed napkins and plastic ups sit on the table, and you know an equally pink set of paper plates lay on the table in the kitchen waiting to be brought through. You've spent the morning making sure that the table cloths look just right and that all of the 'happy birthday' banners have been hung up whilst your wife has fussed over the birthday cake, cookies, brownies and all the other party foods.

It's almost eleven-o-clock and the bouncy castle in the shape of a princess palace hasn't arrived yet, you know that if it isn't here when the party starts your five-year-old daughter will be devastated. She'd had her heart set on having one since she'd seen the enormous gingerbread house shaped bouncy castle at the fair a few months previous.

There are party games in heaps on the floor and in a few hours time you know all the doors will be standing open whilst kids run in and out. You daughter's toys will be scattered across the floor and kids will be dancing to music as they play musical bumps and pass the parcel.

You can already imagine the overflowing rubbishing coming from the bin outside, the kitchen counters cluttered with paper goods and scraps of food, spatters of water on the floor as you and your wife rush to get drinks out to the thirsty children sprinting around the garden underneath the hot summer sun. It'll be a nightmare having to wash all the sweaty handprints off the windows and doors, but it's worth it just to see your little girl smiling and enjoying her birthday.

Your mouth is watering at the luscious small of cakes and cookies baking in the oven, the scent mingles with the overpowering lemony zing of the disinfectant coming from the just-cleaned floors. Scented candles have been lit and air freshener has been sprayed to cover the smell of the traditional English breakfast you'd cooked that morning.

As you walk into the kitchen your wife holds a bowl out and requests that your taste the sweet icing to make sure it's okay. She's just as worried as you are, this is your little princess's fifth birthday and everything needs to run smoothly, otherwise your certain there will be tears. The birthday cake is white and pink and as your little girl comes sprinting into the room screaming 'how long now? How long till they come?' your wife dives to cover the cake with another rather large plastic lunch box. There's far more plastic ware in your cupboards than you thought, and in that moments you make a promise to yourself to deter your wife from purchasing any more.

Your daughter eyes up the other desserts, salty chips, and the heaps of candy ready to be placed in gift bags. She notes the multitude of ice cream flavours in little tubs on the side, and the vast amount of different drink options available for her friends. She gives a nod of approval and then smiles widely making you grin too.

Leo woke up with a start. He had dreamt about Cassie's fifth birthday party, it had all gone brilliantly. The kids had been well behaved and had left exhausted but overflowing with happiness and excited chatter as they told their parents what they had done. Cassie had been swollen with pride as she hugged all her friends' goodbye and promised to see them at school on Monday.

She'd never had another party after that.

Leo and her mother had never had the time to organise one. Work commitments meant that Cassie often spent the mornings of birthdays with her grandparents or a babysitter whilst he and his wife rushed to solve cases and finish lectures. He'd always tried to make it up to her in the evenings, he'd made sure that she'd been taken to expensive restaurants and spoiled rotten on shopping expeditions.

She'd never smiled like she had done on her fifth birthday thought.

Leo wondered if her mother had ever thrown their daughter a birthday party in the eight years he had been separated from them. Somehow he doubted it though, from what his daughter had told him her mother never really had any time for her, and her birthdays had been spent with her friends and their families, rather than her own.

He sat up in bed, he had left the hospital in the early evening and spent the evening with Janet, simply catching up on work lives and enjoying each others company in a way they hadn't for a long time.

Deciding that he should probably get out of bed, and get ready for the day he slipped from between the sheets and stood up before heading into the ensuite bathroom he and Janet shared and grabbing a shower.

Fifteen minutes later he was sat at the oak table in the kitchen with a steaming mug coffee between his hands. He hugged the mug to his chest as he pondered the dream he'd had. What on earth had spurred him to remember that?

That's when it hit him. It was May 26th. Cassie's Birthday was May 29th. What was he going to do? He had no idea what his daughter had already got, or what she needed. In act he didn't know what she was interested in, so how could he pick her a birthday present? He supposed he could play it safe with a voucher or jewelry, but then he needed to know what shops she liked and what sort of styles she was into.

He'd have to speak to Janet. She was a woman; she'd know what to do.

Janet awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs wafting up the stair and protruding through the crack between the bedroom door and it's frame. She yawned and stretched her arms out wide, unsurprised that she could do so without hitting a sleeping figure next to her. It wasn't unlike Leo to get up earlier than her, however it was unusual for him to attempt to cook anything. Leo's cooking was never a pretty site and she decided that if she still wanted a roof over her head at the end of the day she should probably get out of bed and go take over.

As she wandered through the kitchen door she couldn't help but smile at the amusing scene before her. Leo was leant over a frying pan, with a strained look on his face as he tried to work out whether or not he had finished cooking the bacon was lay sizzling in the pan. The eggs in the second pan were burnt and smelt vile, unaware of her eyes on him he scrapped them into the bin and set about finding more eggs in the fridge. Janet coughed, alerting him to her presence. Like a rabbit caught in headlights, Leo froze, only turning his head to face her, the rest of his body still bent over facing the fridge.

"What have you done?" She asked, humour evident in her voice.

"N… Nothing." Leo stuttered, pulling himself upright with two eggs grasped firmly in his hands.

"Of course not." Janet giggled, "You make breakfast everyday…"

Leo raised an eyebrow, "Can I not do something nice for my beautiful girlfriend?"

Janet snorted, "Leo, your cooking is anything but nice. If you haven't done something wrong, then you're after something…"

The guilt look on Leo's face told Janet everything.

"What do you want?" She asked, giggling once more.

She walked briskly into the kitchen and snatched the eggs from Leo and proceeded to save breakfast whilst Leo simply moved out of her way and took a position leaning against the island unit in the centre of the large spacious kitchen.

"Well…" She pushed, turning to face him whilst she fried the eggs.

"It's…" Leo was stuttering, clearly embarrassed that his girlfriend had caught him out. This was not going according to the master plan he had laid out earlier that morning. "It's Cassie's birthday in a few days… I kind of remembered this morning when I woke up, I… I had a dream about her fifth birthday and it reminded me."

Janet nodded, already seeing where this was going.

"I have no idea what to get her." Leo stated simply, "I was hoping you'd help me find something…"

Janet smiled and then nodded. "Of course I will. Actually, I'll take her shopping when she gets out of hospital, get her some new clothes, you know make up, that sort of thing.." Leo frowned at the mention of make up. "Leo, she's a teenage girl. All teenage girls experiment with wearing make up, seriously, you need to get over the fact she isn't a child anymore."

Leo sighed and Janet nodded once more.

"Right, I'll take her shopping for a few things and I'll get an idea of what she's interested in. She seemed to open up to me the other day, before you stormed in with your bad news that is."

Leo looked apologetic and Janet shook her head at him.

"It's not your fault Leo." She sighed.

"I know, but look at how she handled the news, she fell to pieces and I just stood there hopelessly with no clue what to do!" Leo was frustrated with himself.

Janet served their breakfast onto two plates and then walked them over to the table before setting them down on the smooth wooden surface.

"Leo, it's been eight years. You need time to get to know each other again. It'll all be okay in the end, I promise."

Leo smiled, "What do without you Janet?"

"Either survive on takeaways or starve." She laughed.


	29. Bring her home

_Hello!_

_Thank you all for the lovely reviews - **Calliope, tigpop, and Lizziginne!  
Lizziginne - I do indeed know who Karen Gillan is! I love doctor who... :D & thank you lots, I wish I was as pretty as Karen! **_

_Here's the next chapter, I can see roughly two more chapters of this before it ends... but there'll be lots of one shots from me in betwen revision and exams. I won't be starting another multi-chap until after my GCSE's because I simply won't have the time.  
This chapter sort of just fills you in on Leo/Janet's feelings and I don't know if you'll think they're slightly out of characters or not, I just can't see Leo and Janet being serious all the time, surely we all have our playful sides. :D_

Please review, I will love you forever if you do :) Todays question... What's your favourite boys name?

_Enjoy,  
Much love x_

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The clock has yet to strike ten when the shrill scream of the phone pierced the peaceful atmosphere in which the couple were eating their breakfast. Leo sighed; he knew what this phone call was going to be about. He pushed his chair back, the screech of defiance as it scrapped against the beech coloured wooden-effect laminate flooring made him grit his teeth.

Walking briskly down the hallway he reached the cappuccino coloured wooden table on which the phone sat. He could see the small contraption shaking in its holder, the vibration ran through the table making the papers laid on it shudder slightly.

He could hear Janet it the kitchen, scrapping and rinsing the breakfast plates, as he reached out and grasped the phone. He brought the cool plastic cover to his ear; he could feel the chunky smooth rubber buttons rubbing against his skin and for a moment he wondered whether he would be able to speak, his mouth had gone dry and his heart felt as if it had lunged into his throat causing him to choke on it. He took a deep breath.

"Professor Dalton speaking..." his voice was hoarse and quiet.

"Oh Hello Professor, its Dr Briggs here..." He sounded very upbeat, and sudden Leo felt a burden he hadn't realised was there rise up off his shoulders.

"Hello, is this about Cassie?" Leo already knew it was.

He could see the doctor grinning as he spoke, "Got it in one. Yes, I was just checking you'd be coming in to see her today..."

"Of course." Leo said abruptly before realising how harsh he sounded, "Sorry, I mean, I'll be in later this morning."

"That's quite fine Professor Dalton. It's just that we've come to the decision to discharge your daughter today." The young doctor's voice was still smiling.

"That's fantastic news!" He couldn't help but feel elated at the prospect of his daughter being home for her birthday.

"Well, that was all. I'll see you later professor."

"Yes, thank you. Goodbye." Leo hung up, a large grin spread rapidly across his face.

He wandered back into the kitchen and leant against the doorframe very much like Janet had done earlier that morning. He observed his girlfriend as she busied herself cleaning and tidying the kitchen, although it was almost spotless and he couldn't see anything that really needed seeing to, then again as Janet and Nikki were always reminding him, he was a man and men very rarely noticed anything like that.

He watched her for a few minutes as she wiped the sides and the windowsill oblivious to his gaze. He wandered slowly across the room until he was stood behind her. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her waist; she jumped at his touch before laughing and turning to face him.

"I hope you've got a very good reason for sneaking up on me like that." She giggled.

"Of course I have..." He laughed with her, "Cassie's getting out of hospital today."

Janet's face fell and with it Leo's hear t plummeted. Of course, he should have realised that Janet might not be as ecstatic as he was about Cassie being discharged from hospital, after all the meant that Leo's time would definitely be divided between the two of them. His daughter, from his first marriage, would become a prominent feature in his life and Janet was probably scared that she would become second best. He knew just how much Janet longed to have children of her own, but he'd never wanted any after Cassie, not when he thought she was dead. To have more children would be to betray her memory, and he couldn't bring himself to do that. Maybe now that things had changed, and she was still alive, he and Janet would be able to have a child of their own.

Janet watched as Leo's eyes became darker and the smile was wiped from his face.

"Leo, please don't be thinking what I think your thinking." She whispered, "You know I want Cassie here, you do know that don't you?"

"But you look so disheartened." He spoke quietly.

"I was just shocked that it was so soon, after yesterday I thought they'd want to keep her in for a little while longer. You do realise that if she's being released today, you're going to have to take me shopping. We've got nothing ready!" Janet spoke, her voice becoming higher and higher as she realised the enormity of the task ahead of her.

Leo looked confused.

"Oh come on Leo" Janet cried exasperated, "We need to get bedding and curtains, we need to get her something to occupy her when she gets here. I can take her shopping another time for clothes and other girly things, but she needs the essentials now."

Leo's mouth formed a small 'O' shape.

"Oh, well we can get bedding and curtains at that shop where we bought the ones for our room. That's on route to the hospital."

Janet smiled, "When we get to the hospital I'll ask her when she wants to go shopping. You never know, she may feel up to it this afternoon. "

Leo could see the cogs whirling inside Janet's mind, she was clearly planning all the shops she and Cassie would visit, where they would stop and get a drink and a quick bite to eat before doing a last mad dash around the shops they previously visit to make a few last minute purchases. Leo rolled his eyes at her; he would never understand how women could have such a dedication to shopping.

Janet giggled at his reaction and then sighed dramatically, "You do realise you're coming with us don't you?"

"What?" Leo held his hands up, "Janet, no way. Not a chance. I am not going shopping with two women, it'll kill me!"

This time it was Janet's turn to roll her eyes.

"No it won't, and anyway she's your daughter, and I'm your girlfriend. We're spending your money. I wouldn't demand that you came if it wasn't for the fact that I need your credit card." He spoke as if it was all a very simple matter, and that she couldn't understand how Leo hadn't grasped the concept of why he was needed. Then she laughed and her little facade was shattered.

Leo chuckled, "So you're just using me?"

"Of course." Janet giggled.

He rolled his eyes and reached behind her gathering some of the soapy water in the washing up bowl into his hands before splashing her with it. Janet gasped as the water sunk through her clothes and soaked her skin.

"Leo Dalton!" She cried before reaching behind her and grabbing this dishcloth and proceeding to whack him across the face with it.

Leo let go of her waist and rushed back across the room chuckling to himself. They were behaving like children, but it was these carefree moments that often opened his eyes to just how much Janet meant to him and how lucky he was to have someone like her, someone who could take away all the pain and anguish from a moment, someone who could make him forget about all the responsibilities and expectations that came with being an adult, and a professor, and who could give him moments of child-like bliss and happiness like this one.

"Finish up and then get ready, I said we'd be at the hospital later this morning. I bet Cassie can't wait to get out of there." He smiled at his girlfriend and then left the room.

He contemplated the number of things that needed doing before he brought his daughter home, he decided to start with her room, the bedding and curtains could be sorted by Janet, who would know the sizes needed and the colours suitable for the bedroom of a teenage girl, but Janet wouldn't be able to rearrange the furniture or empty the wardrobe of the heavy storage boxes that were currently hiding in there.

The mammoth task was certain to take a while, but Janet would take at least an hour to get ready. He had no idea why, she was beautiful naturally and yet she felt the need to apply make up and spend ages fussing over her outfits, and even when they left the house he knew she'd complain about the way she looked. She just didn't seem to see how perfect she was, but to him it was a clear as day.

He had a beautiful girlfriend and a beautiful daughter and he was going to spend the rest of his life protecting them and working hard to provide them with everything they could possibly need and more. It would be hard at first, he knew that, Cassie was going to have to get used to being around him again, and she was going to have to accept that Janet was his girlfriend and therefore an equally important part of his life – though having seen the way Cassie had taken to Janet the day before he wasn't that worried. Maybe Cassie would be able to confide in Janet more than him, there was a twinge of disappointment that this might be the case but he crushed it with the overwhelming happiness he was feeling, his daughter as back in his life and coming home to him!

"Leo?" Janet shouted from their bedroom next door taking him by surprise, he hadn't heard her come up the stairs.

"Yes love?" He called back.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked.

"The question is my dear, are you ready? I know what your like with your make up." He chuckled.

Janet appeared in the doorway, her natural looking make done and her hair pulled up in a simple ponytail.

"Well at least one of us puts some effort in" She giggled back, "Now, how about we go get those curtains and bed sheets, then we can go to the hospital and rescue Cassie."

Leo nodded, "Sounds like a plan."


	30. Shopping & Secret Plans

_Hey Beautifuls!_

_Thank you for the reviews! - **EmmaJ1996, Lizziginne, tigpop and Calliope!**_

_Here's the next chapter, it's pretty rushed actually, I wanted to update but I didn't get much time to write in my free period, irritatiing little children wanted my attention...B UT only one, maybe two more after this! :O I'm going to miss writing this so much! :(_

_Hope you enjoy this chapter, Please review once you've read it, it really would make my day... and possibly my entire month._  
_This weeks question is... what's your favourite song?_

_Enjoy,_  
_Much love xx_

Chapter Thirty

The silence in the car was comfortable; however it didn't stop Leo from shooting his daughter worried glances every so often when he pulled up at the traffic lights. A number of times Janet caught him in the act and reprimanded him with her eyes, the warning in her gaze was enough for Leo to feel embarrassed. Part of him was worried that his daughter would notice and would push him away further, but he still couldn't control the part of him that just had to check that she really was there. She really was sat in the back of his car as they hurtled down the duel carriageway.

Leo had been ushered into the confided space of Doctor Briggs' office once again and so Janet had taken the time to quiz Cassie on how she was really feeling. The young teenage seemed to be warming to her, and after their little conversation Janet had realised that the girl was far more likely to open up to her, than her father. Janet had experience with losing a mother, she knew how much it hurt, and how confusing it could be. Cassie seemed to feel reassured by the presence of an older woman who had gone through her current predicament and made it out the other a side a stronger person.

The two females had been in a lengthy discussion about clothing and their favourite designers when Leo had entered his daughter's small hospital room, and he had barely managed to get a word in edgeways. He'd come to the automatic assumption that the two were wanting to go shopping, and therefore wasn't surprised when Janet casually told him to turn right as he neared a roundabout rather than their usually left, which would have lead them to the large house on the outskirts on London which they owned.

They had moved into the house shortly after their second anniversary, Janet was adamant that that they should celebrate the occasion every year, even if they weren't married. Yet. This year they would have Cassie with them, so it would be equally special. Thoughts sprinted through Leo's mind; perhaps he could take them to Paris, or Rome. He remembered that as a young child Cassie had always loved travelling, they had visited many countries but they had never gone to Rome – even though he distinctly remembered a six year old Cassie stamping her feet and demanding to be taken to see all the Roman people after looking at the Roman's in history at school. Her naive mind had been unable to grasp that time had moved on since them, and that the people there would not be walking around wearing togas and throwing people to the lions.

Lions, another subject that his daughter had adored as a child. Like most young children she had never associated them with killing or as vicious animals, in fact on many occasions she had ran towards the TV screaming 'cute kitty' whenever a Lion appeared, or any other large cat for that matter. The obsession with lions had lead to the nickname 'Leo-lion' after she had overheard a conversation between himself and her mother one evening, she was a rebellious child and the idea of referring to her father as something other than 'dad' greatly appealed to the little girl.

He pulled into the car park of the huge shopping centre and started to trawl the lines and lines of parking spaces looking for an empty one. This was his idea of a nightmare but the two females in the car with him were eyeing up the main entrance of the shopping centre eagerly, which made him laugh.

"If the two of you want to make a head start then I'll catch up with you when I've found somewhere to park." Leo chuckled.

Janet and Cassie practically leapt from the car before he'd slowed down enough to pull the car over.

"I'll meet you at the little Starbucks in the entrance in fifteen minutes" he said to Janet before turning and spotting an empty spot in the corner of his eye.

He could do his own secret shopping in the time between parking the car and meeting his girlfriend and daughter. He had his own gifts to buy, and his own plans to arrange, but to do so he would need some help. He patted his pockets searching for his phone, eventually finding it in the back right pocket of his blue denim jeans. He scrolled through his contacts until he reached the right one, he was sure he'd give the pair of them some time off today, and even with him absent, he was certain they'd still have taken advantage of his offer. He waited while the phone rang, they'd no doubt be together and he wouldn't mind which one of them answered.

"Hello…" A feminine voice answered.

"Oh at last." Leo though, before realising he'd actually said it out loud.

A tickling laughter could be heard from the other end of the phone.

"Sorry, Harry was adamant it wasn't his phone. I had to search through my entire bag to find mine to prove it was." Nikki was still giggling.

Leo chuckled, "That's explains the wait then if you had to go through your entire bag, I'm pretty sure that thing is bigger than you Niks."

"Oh shut up, you're as bad as Harry!" Nikki chided playfully, "What did you want anyway?"

Leo grinned to himself as he remembered why he'd actually rung in the first place.

"I need your help." His tone became serious, he didn't know what he'd do if Nikki told him they couldn't make it down here, "I'm currently stood in the shopping centre, you know the one where we took Harry to buy something other than one of his grandma jumpers."

Nikki giggled at the memory and Leo laughed along with her.

"Yeah, and for what reason do you require our services today?" Nikki asked.

"Well, I've decided to act on an idea I've had for a while. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it to you before, and on top of that, I need to buy my daughter a present. You're a woman…" At this point Leo thought he heard Nikki giggle something along the lines of 'well noticed', but he ignored the comment and carried on, "I need your ideas and opinions, and I need Harry because… well I don't want him feeling left out if we don't ask him to tag along."

"Okay, well we were heading towards the shopping centre anyway, so you're in luck, we're just parking now, see you in five and the little jewellery shop downstairs, you know the one I always stop and gawp at?" Nikki said.

"Okay Niks, see you soon." He said, and then he hung up and started to make his way downstairs.

The crowds shoved there way along the cramped indoor streets, bright store signs and sale signs screaming at them as the past by. Though large glass windows small huddles of students, teenagers and women peaked at the extensive number of clothing racks, shelves and displays, ach shop having its own individual style and attracting its own little cliché. The were notices identifying where the toilets could be found, as well as numerous signs and arrows pointing towards the food courts, and courtyards containing a number of benches and little bins where tired shoppers could go to relax and rest their feet for a moment. There were a lot of specialty item kiosks with long queues of people waiting to be serves, some calm and collected others impatient and hot headed. Busy shoppers hurried by with arms laden full of shopping bags, each with a different store logo blaring brightly against the white plastic.

The black and white checked tiled floors looked like a enlarged chess board, plants had been scattered around in an attempt to make the place look inviting and to give the whole centre a homely feel. Wherever you stood you could see escalators, stairs, cash machines, sales staff, customers, people sipping from coffee and slushies, as well as tired mothers pushing baby strollers, the infants kicking and screaming wanting attention or to be fed.

There were stores for everything. Clothing, coffee, restaurants, bag/luggage shops, electronic stores, music stores, gaming stores, toy stores, travel centres, jewelry stores, health food stores, maternity stores, baby stores, homeware stores, and even the off art gallery.

Signs labelled the different entrances to the car parks, and free sample giveaways with irritating sales staff tried to grab you as you attempted to escape the building. There were security personnel patrolling the vast space as people of all different ages, sizes and ethnicities struggled to dodge their way around groups of people stood still in the middle of the streets and the numerous large maps hug up and the information desks full of clueless staff and out-of-date information leaflets.

Cassie and Janet hopped on the escalator and rode up to the second level to the HMV store – there was a new CD out that Cassie was desperate to hear. Janet knew she was probably spoiling the girl, but in all honestly she deserved it after all she had been through recently. The air practically buzzed with excitement as throngs of shoppers hustled to snap up the best deals, fragrant cups of coffee in hand to give them a much needed caffeine boost. Janet tapped her foot impatiently as the elderly man in front of them stood still, letting the escalator take him up, no bothering to lift his feet up and climb the few remaining steps so as to hurry the long line of people waiting to reach the top along slightly. Janet rolled her eyes and nudged Cassie, who laughed loudly earning looks from several people around them. This only caused the teenager to giggle once again, albeit rather more quietly this time.

Janet had discovered immediately that she had a very similar taste in clothing stores to Cassie. They both liked the unique little stores that could be found hiding behind the larger retail chains. Cassie however liked to follow the trends, where as Janet had found her own style and kept to that. However Janet wasn't about to complain about the youngsters need to be on top of the latest fashions, she'd been exactly the same when she was Cassie's age.

They headed into republic after Cassie spotted a cute little dress she liked in the window. Janet took one look at it and fell head over heals, it would suit Cassie perfectly, and it would be the ideal thing for her to wear on a day trip to the seaside. Something they would certainly be doing during the summer at some point, she loved the seaside and she knew Leo had fond memories of taking Cassie on the beach and building sandcastles with her. Although his daughter was much older now than what she was then, Janet didn't doubt that the young girl next to her would like to repeat the experience once again. Even she couldn't resist playing in the sand!

Janet sat on a small red sofa opposite a changing cubicle with a long blue curtained pulled across it. Inside the cubicle Cassie was trying on the beautiful dress that had caught her eye along with several other pieces, which included a few tops and numerous skirts. Cassie dressed like a girly girl, there was no doubting it, and they had briefly touched on the topic of shoes as they had wandered through the stores, a conversation which had revealed information not all that surprising to Janet. Her father might be shocked though at the vast amount of shoes she owned, when they managed to go and collect Cassie's things they'd probably have to consider buying a bigger house just to hold her cosmic collection of shoes.

When Cassie had stepped out of the changing room Janet's jaw had dropped to the floor. She had realised from the first moment she'd laid eyes on the girl that she was pretty, but Cassie looked stunning in the knee length dress, it would look even better with wavy hair and a cute necklace. Janet couldn't help but purchase all the items they'd picked up.

Stepping out of the store Cassie nudged Janet and then pointed across towards a small jewelry shop where Leo was stood, plain as day with Harry and Nikki. They seemed to be engrossed in deep conversation and Janet thought it best to leave them to their own devices, spotting a show shop a little way down from them she tapped Cassie's arm lightly and started to drag the teenager towards it.

A woman could never have too many shoes.


	31. In the arms of an angel

_Hey! Here's the second to last chapter!_

_Thank you to **Calliope, Lizziginne, EmmaJ1996 and tigpop **for the reviews! It's meant so much to have such deicated readers & reviews! I love you all and I can't thank you enough!_

_This chapter contains a song, the song is 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan - I think it's nice if you listen to it whilst you read. Thoguh I did make myself cry by doing so!_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter, my science teacher was not impressed that I was writting this rather that listening to her rant on about the atom and nuclear radiation... (so boring!)_

_Please review once you've read this chapter, it's almost your last chance to do so! I will love you all forever if you do! This chapters question is... what's the sweetest thing you've ever been told/could ever be told?_

_Enjoy,_  
_Much love x_

Chapter Thirty-One

Five days since Cassie had been released from hospital and she found herself seated on an oak church pew, the solid structure making her shift uncomfortably whilst the priest babbled on about what a good woman her mother had been. The man had never met her 'wonderful' mother, but it wasn't stopping him from speaking about her as if he'd been her life-long friend. It really was laughable.

They'd sung all her mother's favourite songs and spent a great deal of the service praying for her. Numerous colleagues and acquaintances had stood up and said their piece, dutifully reading epic poems and speeches before they allowed themselves to move on and look towards the future. It wasn't as simple for her as it was for them, they weren't her daughter, and they hadn't had to sit in a hospital bed and read a letter from their mother explaining her actions and why she was abandoning her teenage daughter when right at that moment, the young girl needed nothing more than a mother to guide her through the chaotic jumble of problems and to hold her tight and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

Cassie looked up and the vast painted ceiling, she admired the artistic talent of whoever had put so much time and effort into the work. It was certain beautiful, there were several angels swooping around with bits of cloth flowing angelically behind them like ribbons.

The stunning stain-glass windows allowed slithers of light to illuminate the faces of the congregation, in one fluid movement a sunlight river washed away the pained expressions of the mourning friends and family. The radiant colours glowed tenderly caressing the grief-ridden shoulders on all present, providing comforting warmth in which they could feel reassured that their loved one was in a better place.

There were several marble statues each depicting a different biblical figure. Cassie had grown up being told all the stories in the bible and had an in-depth knowledge of each figure – but she wasn't going to remember all of that. Thinking about the times when her mother had sat there, Cassie at her feet, telling her stories and teaching her right from wrong, would only bring tears the distraught teenagers eyes. She had no idea how to handle these emotions, she couldn't bottle them up any longer because they were making her feel as if she was about to explode, but then again she couldn't talk to anyone right now. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now; it was too hard to remember. The only person who had any idea as to how she was feeling was Janet, and she had never met her mother. So she could be relied upon to answer questions as to why her mother had done what she did.

Her mother had always taught her to remain strong, to keep pushing even when all seemed hopeless. Why had her mother not remembered that? Surely a few more weeks, or even months, with her daughter was better than throwing it all away, and ripping apart the idealistic view her daughter had of her mother. Theresa had been Cassie's role model. All through her childhood she had told whoever would listen that she was going to be like her mother, except in regards to her career. She had wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and become a pathologist – she still held that ambition to this day, even with her mum's heavy disapproval.

Flickering candles attracted her attention, and she stared into the heart of a flame hoping for some clarity or a sign on what to do. The flame just danced, mocking her insecurities, creating even more confusion amidst the swirling fog, which was clouding her judgement.

How was she supposed to forgive her mother to abandoning her?

Was she supposed to understand why she had taken her own life?

Time ticked by slowly, but sure enough the time was coming for her to do her piece. She had promised her father that she would say something, no one had known her mother like she had, and undoubted as she spoke about the fond memories she held close to her heart, and the emotions that were running dangerous high within her puzzled mind that she would cry.

She had yet to show any emotion today. From the moment she had woke up she had been devoid of life, she hadn't been able to eat breakfast; just the smell of food had made her stomach churn wildly. She looked up as the priest said her name before he smiled down at her kindly.

It was her time. She stood up and made her way up to the altar, bowing her head as she climbed the stairs as a mark of respect, just as her mother had taught her all those years ago. Her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry. A wave of nausea crashed down around her as she turned to face the expectant sea of faces.

She stood still for a moment and took the time to look into the eyes of every member of the congregation. Some of them looking genuinely sad, some of them were blank. She smiled slightly at the sight of her grandmother who was sat right at the back of the church. The old woman smiled back at her before nodding, encouraging her granddaughter to carry on.

Cassie took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself before beginning to speak. "When someone first asked what I was going to say today, when I spoke about my mum, a thousand different memories sprung to mind. None of them good enough. I couldn't find one thing that could sum up the relationship between me and my mum, or what she meant to me."

She looked in the direction of her dad, who nodded at her encouragingly.

"We've had many happy memories and our own fairy share of negative ones too. I mean by far the worst was being involved in the accident when I was eight; it split my family apart when we were placed in police protection. It was only recently that I first saw my dad again since the day of the accident. I don't doubt that things might have worked out for the best, my dad's happy and until recently my mum was happy too. She always remained strong for me, she was always there for me to come home and rant too after a particularly bad day at school. She never once complained when I was moody."

She laughed then assumed a serious expression.

"I've been torn over whether to tell my story. The story of me and my mum, how we've coped, the things we've faced together and the things we should have gone on to do. I wonder whether I should tell everyone and let them know exactly what is in my head, or whether I should keep it to myself. I've worried because the problem with being so outwardly unhappy is that it tends to push people away, because are scared of hurting you and so they avoid you. No matter if they say they'll always be there, because my mum said that, and look at where we are today. There's only so much the people around you can listen to before they to begin to feel the same depression as you, and so eventually they'll distance themselves from you to avoid the pain. One the other hand though, to pretend that everything is okay is to poison yourself from the inside out; is to ignore who you are and lose yourself. So which is better? To be seen as melodramatic, seeking attention and pessimistic or to drown your own mind?"

She stood and took a deep breath.

"In the end I decided that I'd try and do both. Things were complicated; at the age of eight I realised thing would never be the same. I learnt that life isn't fair and that little piece of information has guided me through life so far, my mother taught me not to take anything for granted because you never know when something special can just slip out of your reach. My mother was dedicated to her work, and there are a lot of people out there who admired how professional she was, and how strong she always remained no matter how many hours she was forced to work, or how complicated a matter she had to face. She taught me that every individual is more important than they think they are, and that we have to make life worth living – things don't come handed to us on a plate. If we were to capture our life in snapshots, what would it look like? She taught me to live my dreams, no matter what people thought, including herself. I proud of my mother for raising me alone. I love her, and I can't think of anyone other way to celebrate the life she led and the beautiful intelligent person she was in any other way than this. For those of you who know me, you'll know that not only am I captain of my schools science club, but I'm also a member of the glee club and school choir. This is her favourite song and I'm going to dedicate it to her memory, I hope you all remember her for the things she did throughout her life, and how amazing she was."

Cassie could see her grandmother and Janet crying as she stepped away from the microphone and signalled to the pianist at the far side of the altar to begin playing.

_Spend all your time waiting  
For that second chance  
For a break that would make it okay  
There's always one reason  
To feel not good enough  
And it's hard at the end of the day  
I need some distraction  
Oh beautiful release  
Memory seeps from my veins  
Let me be empty  
And weightless and maybe  
I'll find some peace tonight  
_

She could see her father's eyes filling with tears as she sang.

_In the arms of an angel_  
_Fly away from here  
From this dark cold hotel room  
And the endlessness that you fear  
You are pulled from the wreckage  
Of your silent reverie  
You're in the arms of the angel  
May you find some comfort there_

She felt the sting of tears behind her own eyes and she fought to keep control of her wavering voice.  
_  
So tired of the straight line  
And everywhere you turn  
There's vultures and thieves at your back  
And the storm keeps on twisting  
You keep on building the lie  
That you make up for all that you lack  
It don't make no difference  
Escaping one last time  
It's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh  
This glorious sadness that brings me to my knees_

In the arms of an angel  
Fly away from here  
From this dark cold hotel room  
And the endlessness that you fear  
You are pulled from the wreckage  
Of your silent reverie  
You're in the arms of the angel  
May you find some comfort there  
You're in the arms of the angel  
May you find some comfort here

The entire congregation got their feet and applauded her as she stepped down from the altar, fat salty tears rolling down her cheeks, cascading to the floor. She slip into the pew beside her father, as she did Leo slipped his arm around her and pulled her against his chest, her entire body shook as she sobbed fitfully, clinging to his shirt. Janet sat on Leo's other side dabbing at her eyes in order to stem the flow of tears trickling down, tumbling to the floor.

The priest finished off the service before asking everyone to gather outside, around the graveside.

The sound of people crying filled the air mingling with the occasional sniffing sound. People were whispered to one another and utter almost silent prayers as the huddled around the graveside. The rustle of dead flowers being removed for fresh ones could be heard as the wandered through the cemetery and over to the plot in the far corner which had been allotted to Cassie's mother. Hearses were pulling up, and caskets were being unloaded and transported to the gravesites, reminding Cassie of the other traumatised families going through the same thing as her.

At the side of the grave the priest read a few more prayers and spoke about how hard it was to say goodbye to a loved one. Cassie wondered whether he'd ever had to say goodbye to anybody he loved? A soft motorized hum rang loud and clear as the casket was lowered into the currently unmarked grave – the headstone was due to arrive for another few days. She stepped forward almost robotically at the priests sign and a gripped fist full of dirt, she listened for it hitting the coffin, her grandmother did then same, and then her aunt and her six year old cousin – who wasn't quite aware of what was happening. All the guests placed flowers beside the grave and muttered their own goodbyes to their friend. The priest wrapped up the sermon and as people turned away, heading back to the warmth of their cars a few approached Cassie offering words of comfort and condolences.

Cassie wandered to the far edge of the churchyard towards a small opening sheltered by a cluster of trees. She listened to the creaky gate swinging in the wind, the gentle breeze whistling through the gravestones, birds sang and small animals scuttled through the undergrowth. It was peaceful; it seemed closer to normal than Cassie had been for a long time. The slow click of shoes along a path alerted her to the presence of someone else. A large hand gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and Cassie turned to face her father.

"What do I do now? She's gone, we've buried her, and yet it feels like I've left something unfinished…"

Leo looked into his daughters pleading eyes; it was killing him that he couldn't help her.

"You need to forgive her, and forgive yourself for what happened. I know you've blamed yourself for her killing herself, but it wasn't your fault, whether you had been in hospital or not, it wouldn't have happened. It was inevitable once your mum found out the news about the cancer, you know what she was like… she had to have control of a situation."

Leo looked at his daughter as she sighed and flicked her hair behind her shoulder.

"I know. I know, but she always told me it was wrong to do something like that. I can't help but feel let down, and then feeling that way makes me feel guilty!"

Leo reached out and pulled his daughter into his arms as she burst into fresh floods of tears.

"It's okay sweetheart. It's okay to feel like that." He soothed her.

There was the metallic tang of stone in the air as Cassie breathed in slowly. She could smell freshly cut grass, and stone, mixed with newly turned earth, and sweet scented fresh flowers on graves. Where the congregation had been standing there was the sharp odour of several different cheap perfumes and aftershave. She could smell the damp wood, and rot even though it hadn't rained for a few days.

The feel of chalky dust on a headstone on the fingers as she swiped dead leaves off a headstone made her shiver slightly. There were dead flowers on the grave and crinkled in her hand as she lifted them up and replaced them with a daisy. They grave looked abandoned, the name was unreadable, but it didn't stop her from making the grave look as pretty as she could. Anything so as not to have to walk past her mother's grave, if she saw it again that would be it really was real. She would have to accept that she no longer had a mother. She wiped at her tears, frustrated at not being able to hold herself together. Her dad stopped a little further down the path and looking back to see where she had got to. She stood up and smiled slightly at him before walking swiftly to join him at his side. He smiled back at her before holding her close once more and pressing a kiss to her head. He stopped by the grave of his ex-wife and allowed his daughter to say goodbye once more, muttering a quick goodbye himself and a promise to take care of their daughter. Cassie knelt by the grave and pressed her forehead against the cool earth, she could still feel the warmth of her father's hand holding hers tightly. The cut grass scratched at her face and as she sat back up she reached out to feel one silky petal of the numerous fresh flowers brought to the grave. Her dad handed her a tissue and she dabbed at her eyes.

"Can we go home?" She asked.

Her father smiled at her, noticing that his daughter had called his house home.

"Of course we can." He said gently.

They met Janet at the entrance to the churchyard and headed towards the car. Janet held her arms out to the teenage girl who fell into them immediately, burying her head in the crook of the older woman's neck.

"I want to go home Janet, I want to go home with you and dad." The young girl whispered.

Leo wrapped his arms around the two most important females in his life and lead the to the car, before driving back to the house they each called home. It was the start of a new future, and it would be difficult for the first few months, but eventually it would be okay, because he had his daughter back, and he had a beautiful girlfriend. He had everything he needed.


	32. Returning

_Here it is beautifuls! The final chapter!_

I struggled to find a way I wanted to end this, there's so much they need to do and say, but I wanted a really happy ending, so here we are...

Thank you to everyone who was read and reviews this! Especially, **Calliope, tigpop, EmmaJ1996, Lizziginni and pinkswallowsun, **who reviewed that last chapter! Those really dedicated reviewers who have reviewed every chapter, you know who you are, I love you loads, you've made this worth writing and your comments have inspired me to keep writing this and more fanfiction! Thank you!

I thought I'd let you all know that I'll be singing the song from the last chapter in my school talent show. My English teacher knows that I included it in this and so couldn't stop grinning all the way through my audition - rather off putting! lol! :D

Please review this chapter... it's your last chance and I'd love to know what you'd thought of this!

I'll have some one shots based around Cassie up over the next few weeks/months.

Thank you for reading,  
Enjoy!  
Much love always xx

Chapter Thirty-Two

A little less than two months after her mother's funeral and Cassie was sat in the back of her father's car with Leo and Janet in front as he pulled into a little car park. It had a small cottage-like building at one end, which was clearly a shop and café, and at the other side was a large play area for young children. It had taken a while for her father to convince her that this was a good idea. She had only been here once before, when she was around six years old and it was the one memory she'd always clung to over the past eight years. The last time she remembered going on holiday with her mother and father, for the next two years they would always be too busy during the schools holidays with work commitments to take her anywhere.

She could hear the crashing waves and the snatches of conversation floating on the whispers of the wind. There were seagulls crying as they swooped down to snatch up the bits of food that had been dropped on the white-sandy beach.

As she clambered out of the car she could hear the children screeching on the beach below her, umbrella's flapped lazily in the refreshing summer breeze as the sea grass shushed the loud powerboats thundering past.

All around her were different shades of blue and green. The ocean lapped up against the shore, the translucent teal water looked inviting. Cassie thought of all the interesting creatures that called the water home, when she had last visited the little seaside town she had seen a starfish in one of the rock pools. Her six-year-old self had been so excited by the tiny creature, she had raced along the shore and practically dragged her mother across the sand to see it. Her father had simply smiled at his young child who was grinning and dancing across the sand amazed by her discovery.

Rolling in the surf were streamers of seaweed and sharp fragments of shells. Further up the beach people sat on the smooth rocks, some laying back and basking in the hot glow of the sun. The beach was littered with colourful windbreaks and deck chairs; children darted in between them throwing Frisbees and kicking footballs to one another, laughing and joking.

On the horizon Cassie could see the cruise ships and sailboats way out at sea, she wondered just how far away they were. A plane flew overheard with a banner advertising a fireworks show at a local castle, some of the younger children on the beach looked up in awe at the giant metal bird and applauded, squealing loudly in delight.

There were fathers sat with their children building tall sand castles with deep moats and shells for windows and doors. Cassie remembered building one with her father last time she was here, they had fetched fish and chips once it had been built and watched as the sea rolled in scooping it away. She remembered feeling disappointed that all their hard work had disappeared but almost memorised by the power of the waves.

Her father and Janet joined her at the cliff edge and together they slowly made their way down the little path, past the lifeguard tower with its flag flying high, down to the beach. Leo held Janet's arm, keeping her steady as they made their way down a particularly steep sand dune and on to the main flat bit of the beach. Janet had a woven picnic basket on one arm, and her father held the bag containing the sun lotion, towels and three books.

They weaved their way in and out of all the families and couples scattered across the beach. At the very far end there was an empty spot, it was too far away from the sea for the families, which made up most of the visitors to the beach, but was perfect for them. Leo had made several jokes about taking Cassie down to the sea for a paddle but had stopped at the familiar 'I'm warning you' look on her face. The look however had made Janet break into peals of laughter, with tears streaming down her face. It had taken her a good ten minutes to calm down, when she'd finally explained that the look Cassie had given her father had been so Leo-like that it was untrue.

Cassie felt the soft sand under her feet, she couldn't wait to lay back and relax in the summer heat. Sticky sweat trickled down the faces of the children running around like the water cascading down the rocks where a little river met the sea. She could see the sand sticking to wet feet, and remembered the irritating feeling of sand in her shoes and socks as it rubbed and chaffed her feet. She made a mental note to clean her feet properly she they left the beach later on.

As they sat down and made themselves comfortable, Janet pulled out the sun cream and poured some into her hands applying the oily lotion to her dark skin. Leo began to fret that Cassie would burn and called her over, making her sit at his feet as he applying the cool liquid to her ivory skin. Cassie squirmed underneath the coolness but didn't complain. She hadn't quite got over the fact she now had a father to worry over her, and she secretly enjoyed the attention he gave her, even if he did treat her like she was still six years old sometimes. The sun's heat was beating down on them, and both Cassie and Janet slipped their tops off revealing their bikini tops. Leo looked disapprovingly at his teenage daughter, a look that certainly didn't last when he saw his girlfriend beside him.

Janet gave him a quizzical look.

"Are you aware of how beautiful you are?" He asked, smiling at his lover who blushed in response.

Cassie grinned at the interaction between them and laid back on a towel hoping to gain an even looking tan by the end of the day. Her denim shorts covered very little of her thighs which meant that she didn't have to lay in her entire bikini, which was sure he father wouldn't approve of.

In was well over an hour later when any of them felt the need to move. Sitting up Leo dug out three bottles of water, handing one to both his girlfriend and his daughter. He looked up at something behind the two females and his eyes darkened visibly, Cassie and Janet turned to find two teenage boys sat on the rocks a fair way behind them. Cassie giggled slightly as the two boys looked her up and down. She flicked her hair behind her shoulder and smirked at them.

"Cassie." Her father warned, "Don't encourage them."

Janet rolled her eyes as Leo shot daggers at the two boys.

"Oh Leo, calm down. Cassie's an attractive young woman, she's bound to draw attention."

Leo looked pointedly at his girlfriend, "Exactly, and so I'm doing my duty to protect her from the idiots who think it's okay to eye her up, like those two!"

"Your duty" Janet spluttered as she burst out laughing, Cassie joining her.

Leo pulled a face at the two of them, and the three of them started to laugh once more.

Cassie got up and sat beside her father, leaning into him slightly. Leo wrapped his arm around his daughter shoulders and kissed her forehead lightly.

"I'm glad I got you back." She whispered softly.

Leo smiled, "I'm glad I got you back too sweetheart."

Janet smiled at the pair of them.

Hours later, the three of them sat with fish and chips in hand on the sea-defence-wall looking out across the water at the surf thundered in grabbed at the sand with foamy fingers. A patch of sea grass nodded in the wind, pointing toward the glittering waves like a signpost. The crowds had long since disappeared yet the smell of hot dog, sweet ice cream and sun tan lotion still lingered. The breeze had become cool and Cassie shivered slightly, her father noticed this and pulled her pastel pink waterfall cardigan out of the bag in front of him and handed it to her. She smiled gratefully and slipped it over the delicate dream crochet knit vest top she was wearing.

Leo was wringing his hands and trying his best not to appear nervous. He had spoken to Harry about this and together they had come up with the perfect plan. He had no reason to be nervous, he had done this before, and he could do it again.

The sunset was romantic, like an inspirational fire across the sky. The warmth of the colors and intensity of the light was just enough to calm him. It was as if a powerful symphony was quieting down, becoming more emotional and beautiful, as the music dies down. The lingering rays seem friendly, reminding him of an old friend-waving goodbye. Leo contemplated this, coming to the conclusion that he was waving goodbye to an old friend. He was waving goodbye to his past, and welcoming a future with Janet and his daughter. Thing's hadn't worked out exactly as he'd expected last time he was in this position, but he had learnt a lesson from the mistake's he'd made and the problem's he'd faced and he felt reassured by the knowledge he was doing the right thing.

His nerves were clearly showing as Cassie looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and looked across the water, hoping that amongst the darkened depths of the ocean he would be able to find the courage he needed to see this through.

He slipped from the wall and gathered up the empty newspaper wrappers that had held their fish and chips and carried them to the bin. When he returned Janet was whispering something in Cassie's ear, his daughter giggled, her melodic laugh filled him with hope that there could be a positive future for the three of them.

He strolled back over to the two of them and smiled down at the both.

"Dad?" Cassie asked hesitantly, "You okay?"

"I'm fine Cass, in fact I'm more than fine."

Janet raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend. What was he planning?

"I've been thinking this through for a while, and I must have had everybody at the lab's opinion on what I should do. The gist of them all was the same though; everybody asked me why I hadn't done it already. I know… I know, you're probably really confused right now, or may not, maybe you've worked it out."

Janet gave him a puzzled look, "Leo…"

He cut her off. "Janet, I'm struggling to find the words to explain my actions. I've never been one for words, I hate lecturing at conferences for that reason, you know that, but this is different somehow. If I had a million more years I don't think I'd be able to find the words to explain just how much you mean to me. You have become my entire word Janet, you were there for me to lean on, you helped me move on from my past, you were strong for me and I owe you so much for everything you've done. You're an amazing woman and I can't believe my luck, every time I wake up and see you there next to me I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not still dreaming. You're beautiful, you're intelligent, you're caring and in all honestly you're simply the most amazing woman I've ever met. I love you with all my heart, and I never thought I'd meet someone like you. After Theresa I thought I'd be alone for the rest of my days, but you gave me something to hold on to, something to make me look forward to the future and I can't thank you enough."

He took a deep breath and tried to stop the tears from welling up behind his eyes. He could see Janet's trickling down her face, his gaze moved to his daughter he appeared to be fighting her own. She smiled at him, encouraging him to continue.

"I still haven't found the words to explain what you mean to me, maybe the don't exist. I can't find anything powerful enough to describe our love, all I know is that I want to love, cherish and protect you for the rest of our lives. I never want to have to let you go Janet, because I love you, and so…" He dropped down on to one knee. "Janet Mander, will you marry me?"

Janet sobbed, a smile stretching across her face as she flung her arms around her boyfriend, now fiancé and whispered a delicate 'yes' into his ear.

The couple turned to the teenager, each anxious about her response. Cassie simply grinned at the two of them, wiping her own tears from her eyes. Her father stood up and pulled the young girl into his arms.

"You're okay with this?" he asked her.

"Of course." She replied, hugging him tightly.

"Good." He smiled down at her, "Oh Janet, I think you need this…"

He pulled a small blue tiffany's box from his pocket and opened it to allow Janet to pear at the gorgeous ring inside. Two pear-shaped Tiffany diamonds brought an air of glamour to the dazzling classic round centre stone. The ring itself was made from platinum and Leo watched as his Fiancé's eyes glazed over as more tears threatened to fall.

"Oh it's beautiful," She whispered.

Cassie smiled at her father and Janet; together they had come such a long way over the last few weeks. It hadn't been easy for any of them, they had to come to terms with and accept so many things. She'd lost her mother, Leo had discovered that his wife and child had never died, and Janet had, had to come to terms with the fact the man she was in love with had another just-as-important female in his life. She couldn't help but feel warm inside as she realised she had returned to the place she felt safest, the one place she truly belonged.

She had returned to her father.


End file.
